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Richland County agrees to sponsor FEMA mitigation grant and adopts Railroad Annex
Summary
The Board unanimously agreed to sponsor a FEMA hazard-mitigation grant to relocate a house and shop from the Wild Rice River, adopted a Railroad Annex to the county emergency plan, and heard updates on HazMat cleanup and new homeland-security equipment.
The Richland County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 1 voted unanimously to act as the county sponsor for a FEMA hazard-mitigation grant to relocate a house and shop threatened by the Wild Rice River.
Brett Lambrecht, who presented the emergency-management report, said the project qualifies under FEMA Flood 2023 funding with cost shares of roughly 75% federal, 10% state and 15% local; he said property owners will cover the local 15% and the county must serve as the grant sponsor. Commissioner Terry Goerger moved to proceed; Commissioner Nathan Berseth seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Lambrecht also reported ongoing hazardous-materials cleanup at the Hankinson J-Star site with West Central Environmental and coordination with the fire department and the North Dakota Division of Emergency Services. He told the board the county is ordering 15 HazMat suits for fire-department use at $24.50 per suit, to be paid from Tier II county funds.
Separately, Lambrecht reviewed recent Homeland Security grant work: 2023 upgrades added 30-plus encrypted cameras at the Law Enforcement Center and courthouse and installed an outside security-door visiting system at the LEC; 2024 awards funded equipment and tower/shop projects at several county facilities. He distributed a draft Richland County Railroad Annex to incorporate into the Local Emergency Operations Plan; the board adopted the annex by unanimous vote on a motion by Commissioner Nathan Berseth, seconded by Commissioner Tim Campbell.
The board’s actions mean the county will proceed with grant sponsorship and has formally incorporated railroad-related response planning into its emergency operations framework. No additional county cost for the FEMA relocation project was reported at the meeting.
Next steps include formal grant application work and continued coordination among county emergency staff, the fire department and state DES on the cleanup and protective equipment procurement.
