County emergency management, radio towers and grants: drill planned, EMPG deadline looms

Emergency management staff updated the committee on exercises, grant timing and proposals for staffing changes to sustain operations.

"We'll be hosting a mass casualty incident drill at the hospital," emergency‑management staff said, scheduling an eight‑hour training day for October 26. They also reported the county was awarded an $8,245 community hazmat grant for equipment and interoperability radios.

Staff described the EMPG grant process and a looming Oct. 31 submission deadline. To improve daytime coverage and administrative continuity, emergency management proposed converting a contracted role into a 32‑hour‑per‑week county position with about 60% of the salary covered by the grant. Staff said the change aims to reduce reliance on donated or contract hours and to meet grant reporting/coverage requirements.

Separately, county staff and the clerk's office reported progress on a multi‑site radio tower project: agreements are nearing completion for three outlying towers (Yuba, Richland Center and Boaz), site work and footings are in place in some locations and tower structures are starting to be erected. Staff said new cameras and dispatch/jail control hardware tied to the radio project should be installed before October.

Committee members asked for final grant numbers to be entered into eGrants and noted that the federal EMPG funding level has decreased (staff cited about a 10% drop). Staff committed to inserting provisional placeholders in the grant application and to refining numbers as they become available before the federal deadline.

Next steps: emergency management will submit the EMPG proposal by the grant deadline, continue coordination on the radio tower project, and return with finalized budget numbers and staffing implications for board action.