Kandiyohi County to apply for LCCMR grant for low-level radar pilot to fill state gaps

Ace Bonama, Kandiyohi County emergency management director, asked the board to authorize the county to serve as fiscal agent and submit an application to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources’ emerging-issues fund for a pilot project to add low-level radars in areas with state radar gaps. Bonama said the application requests $625,000 per year for two years and must be filed on short notice.

Bonama told commissioners the pilot would provide ground-level precipitation and wind data that improves the National Weather Service’s ability to issue watches and warnings and supports measurements of rainfall, snow amounts and smoke impacts. He said a proof-of-concept radar has been installed in Wendell (Grant County) and that the selected vendor would add four additional radars if awarded the project, or five if a different vendor is selected, covering a substantial portion of Minnesota’s radar gaps.

Commissioners questioned the long-term cost and ownership. Bonama said the county would not own the radars; the private vendor would, and the project is structured as a reimbursement grant so the county would not carry equipment costs beyond administrative time. He said the pilot is intended to bring state and regional agencies together to work on long-term data access after the grant period.

After discussion about operational costs and whether the radars would reduce the need for spotters, the board moved and approved a motion allowing staff to apply for the LCCMR emerging-issues grant with Kandiyohi County as fiscal agent.