Carbon County GIS and fire warden list grants, Next-Gen 911 work and camera testing

At 9:30 a.m., GIS Coordinator Patrick Benson and Fire Warden Tom Kohley briefed the commissioners on ongoing GIS and fire-response work. Topics included Next-Generation 911 data status, a redesign of the Carbon Alert website, a potential grant to improve land boundaries on the Montana Cadastral map, continued development of a county ArcGIS hub, and a request to cost-share Eagle View drone imagery with the Montana Department of Revenue and the City of Red Lodge (the drone imagery cost-share will be discussed later).

Kohley provided a written update that the board received and that is attached to the minutes. It lists training and equipment actions (onboarding ALERTWest fire detection camera at Rock Creek Tower; evaluating AI functions; working with NW Energy on a second Bridger Tower camera), mutual-aid research with Wyoming following Bridger annexation, and consideration of a spring tabletop exercise on Public Safety Power Shutoffs. The written briefing also records grant activity: a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) wildfire risk assessment with total grant funding of $67,080 (project end date May 31, 2026); a Cooperative Fire Protection Capacity (CFPC) grant covering roughly 50% of a 0.75 FTE for the Fire Warden duties with a total award of $79,200 (end date June 30, 2027); closeout of a Volunteer Fire Capacity grant (total award $6,500) and a Volunteer Fire Assistance application requesting approximately $25,000 for shelters and PPE. The briefing notes delivery of three BK 5000 portable radios to Belfry Rural Fire District #9.

The minutes record these program and equipment updates but do not include detailed project schedules or full grant agreements; those documents should be available through county emergency management and GIS project files.