Sheriff says county has applied for nearly $500,000 school-mapping grant for Three Rivers schools; board authorizes proceeding

Josephine County's sheriff told the Board of Commissioners on Nov. 12 that the county had submitted a time-sensitive, nonmatching grant application — roughly "just under half a million dollars" — to create high-fidelity maps for all 18 schools in the Three Rivers School District.

The sheriff said the vendor is a New Jersey-based firm founded by retired military personnel that provides detailed mapping used by law enforcement, fire and EMS to coordinate responses. The maps would be accessible to first responders and would be used for training and incident response; access was described as restricted to emergency personnel.

Because the grant window closed quickly, the sheriff said he had already submitted the application and was seeking the board's retroactive authorization to move forward; he stated the district superintendent, Valenzuela, had signed a letter of commitment. The sheriff emphasized the grant is nonmatching and that, at the application stage, there is no contract obligating the county to pay the vendor.

Commissioners discussed operational costs, staff-hour impacts and maintenance of the mapping product; the sheriff said the vendor would perform much of the on-site work and that school resource deputies and school personnel would mainly assist. The board made a motion to approve moving forward with the grant application (item 3A) and directed staff to update the board when contract details or awards are finalized.

What happens next: If the county is awarded the grant, the board will consider any resulting contract and will be notified about implementation plans and any local staff or maintenance costs.