ASHLAND —
First responders across the area are getting grants to buy new radio equipment per federal mandates, but the awards won’t cover the entire cost, officials say.
Last week, Gov. Steve Beshear announced $2.2 million in State Homeland Security Program grants for 97 agencies across Kentucky, including Boyd, Carter, Greenup and Lawrence counties.
The money must be used for first-responder communications, critical infrastructure equipment and training programs. All local agencies will use the grants to buy radio equipment needed to make the Federal Communications Commission-mandated switchover for public safety radio traffic to narrowband operations from wideband communications.
The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security received 211 applications and $11.8 million in requests for the funds. The money came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Boyd County Sheriff Terry Keelin said Boyd County’s award was about half of what had been requested, but described the awards as “wonderful. Anything helps,” he said.
Keelin said the agencies involved in the grant application will meet soon to prioritize needs and make those purchases first. The funds will be spent on buying radio equipment, such as repeaters and mobile and portable radios.
“We’re trying to inch our way to being able to convert totally to digital,” he said. “It is just a matter of funds. If we had the money, we would have already switched over.”
The story was much the same in Greenup County. E-911 Director Buford Hurley said the award was also about half of what was requested for repeaters and portable radios for the Greenup County Sheriff’s Department. Another grant for radio equipment at the E-911 Center itself was denied.
“We were just lucky and blessed to get some,” he said. “I’m meeting with the Sheriff (Keith Cooper) to see how we want to handle it. They need new radios. They have some aging equipment.”
Carter County E-911 and Emergency Management Director Tommy Thompson said his agency had asked for $97,000 to purchase radio equipment for the county’s five fire departments, three law enforcement agencies and the coroner’s office. It received $28,000.
Thompson was also grateful, but said his county will struggle to buy all the equipment it needs to make the switch to narrowbanding in the coming months.
“It will be quite sometime,” he said. “The responders who have radios that aren’t narrowband will have to take it out of their own pockets or find another grant somewhere. Our local fire departments don’t have the money to go out and buy all the firemen radios. There is just not enough money there.”
Radios are one of the most important tools first responders have to safely and effectively manage incidents of all levels.
“Radios are important for the safety of our officers and for us to be able to assist the general public. We have got to have radio communication,” Keelin said.
CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
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