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Plymouth County pivots to $860,000 BSU equipment grant after federal earmark ruled ineligible
Summary
County officials shifted an earlier earmark request to a new Community Project Funding application with Bridgewater State University seeking $860,000 for training equipment — six anatomage virtual dissection tables and 12 virtual reality headsets — with letters of support from Southcoast Health and Mass General.
County Administrator Frank Basler told the Plymouth County Commissioners that an earlier request to fund an emergency operations center through Community Project Funding (CPF) was not an allowable use and the team has shifted to a new partnership with Bridgewater State University.
“The grant would be used for 6 anatomage tables, which are virtual autopsy tables, along with 12 virtual reality headsets,” Basler said, describing equipment the county hopes the $860,000 application would buy for BSU workforce training. Basler also said the county would donate the award to Bridgewater State University if the CPF application is approved and that the submission will include letters of support from Southcoast Health and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Basler told commissioners that after conversations in Washington, D.C., Congress declared police and fire grants ineligible for this CPF round, prompting the shift. He said the county is seeking support from congressional offices and working with Senator Edward Markey and Senator Elizabeth Warren’s staffs to advance the First Responders Training Center and target-range concept where permissible.
Next steps include finalizing the CPF application with the Labor and Health and Human Services tracks and continuing coordination with Representative Keating’s office and BSU. The commissioners received the briefing and Basler indicated he will report back as the application progresses.
