Mason County emergency teams win state, federal grant support; county director praised

Jason York, area director for Kentucky Emergency Management, updated Mason County Fiscal Court that the county continues to qualify for the FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant, which funnels federal preparedness dollars from the state to local emergency programs. York singled out Mason County emergency management director Tony Lease for meeting the program’s local performance requirements and called him “a leader in our area.”

York also announced that the Buffalo Trace search-and-rescue team, with assistance from Lease and local partners, received a competitive state rescue aid grant awarded in December. That award — the largest given statewide for the program this cycle — is just under $12,000 and will support local search-and-rescue capacity, York said.

County officials thanked York and emphasized the importance of the funding and local coordination as the county adds assets along the Ohio River, including an in-progress rescue boat. The court recorded no formal action beyond accepting the report and acknowledging the grant awards.

The county’s emergency manager, Tony Lease, briefed the court separately on February activities including school safety workshops, exercises related to extremely hazardous substance (EHS) planning, siren reprogramming and an election tabletop exercise. Lease said local 9-1-1 dispatch retained service through a national cellphone outage and that the county is working with neighboring jurisdictions on hazmat and SAR planning. The court accepted the emergency management report by motion and recorded roll-call approval.