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Goodland and Sherman County officials agree to pursue grant for 9-1-1 backup power; fire board requests 3% increase
Summary
City and county commissioners agreed to pursue a hazard-mitigation grant to add backup power at the Goodland 9-1-1/police facility, discussing a likely 75/25 grant-match and the possibility of a 50/50 local split; the fire authority also asked for a 3% budget increase to cover rising costs.
City and county commissioners at a joint Goodland meeting agreed to pursue a state hazard-mitigation grant to install backup power at the city’s 9-1-1 dispatch and police facility, and discussed how to split the local match if the award comes through.
City staff told the commission the state program would cover about 75% of project costs, leaving a 25% local match. A preliminary vendor quote mentioned during discussion was about $60,000 for equipment alone, with staff later noting a conservative all-in estimate of up to $100,000. Under that scenario, the 25% match would be roughly $25,000; commissioners discussed a potential 50/50 city–county split to reduce each jurisdiction’s share.
“The mitigation grant is due June 30,” a staff member said, urging a timely application. City staff also recommended automatic-start capability for the generator so 9-1-1 dispatchers would not have to perform extra steps to restore operations in an outage, and noted the site currently has a manual disconnect that would require wiring work to automate.
Commission members voiced support for pursuing the grant and asked staff to return with firm cost estimates. “If the grant goes through, we could proceed,” one commissioner said, signaling consensus to apply while the exact local contribution remains to be finalized.
Separately, the meeting opened with a request from the fire authority for a 3% increase to the city’s contribution to the joint fire department contract, which staff said began in 2021 and has not changed since. A fire board representative summarized the request: “The fire board came to us … and requested that we come to you and ask for a 3% increase.” Commissioners generally called the request reasonable but said they would need to review the full city budget before committing to the increase.
Next steps include staff completing a grant application before the June 30 deadline and returning to the commissions with final cost and match options for formal budget action.
