County staff provided a broad update Nov. 26 on recent grant activity and local infrastructure projects.

Unidentified Speaker 3 reported that Chase County’s FEMA AFG application for a fire truck was not awarded. "There were 11 awards in Kansas. None of them were for vehicle acquisition," the speaker said, and staff plan to contact the program officer for feedback on the application.

The Safe Streets for All program announcement was delayed because of a federal government shutdown, but the county received a comprehensive safety report after participating in cohort 5. If the Safe Streets grant is awarded, staff said they are prepared to convene a committee and implement the report’s recommendations.

Staff also described pending federal and state grant opportunities: a rural and tribal assistance pilot for preliminary engineering on Middle Creek Road (status pending), and a bridge-improvement grant that was removed from grants.gov after a Nov. 12 due date. The county is pursuing a Federal Lands Access Program proposal to repair and restore City Road 227 (Lower Fox Creek access), which would include tree/brush clearing, drainage work and stone bridle restoration.

Brandy Sutherland is under contract to write grant applications, and letters of support have been gathered from emergency services and the school district; staff asked the board for a support letter as well. Separately, Presiding Official (unnamed) said a repeater for the Cedar Point communications tower is progressing though additional wiring may be required, and staff confirmed dispatch consoles are back online with final programming expected by early next week.

No final grant awards were announced at the meeting; staff reported being in various stages of application and waiting on external announcements.