Emergency management funded by grant

A grant matched by Sweetwater County will continue to be used to fund two full-time Sweetwater County Emergency Management Agency positions.

During the Sweetwater County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, the Commissioners unanimously approved a fiscal year 2018 Emergency Management Performance Grant agreement from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security.

Under the agreement for the $120,000, the grant will provide $60,000 and the county will match it with $60,000. 

According to Judy Roderick, emergency management coordinator, the money will go to fund two full-time positions like it always has in past years. These employees will then complete all of the grant’s activities, including preparing a comprehensive all hazards emergency preparedness system.

“It’s our goal to make the county and all of its residents ready for an emergency,” Roderick said in an interview.

Roderick said on of the county’s biggest concerns is the hazardous waste traveling down Interstate 80 and on the Union Pacific railroad. There are other concerns for the county also, including flooding, earthquakes, snow storms and road closures.

Commissioner Randy Wendling asked what would happen if the grant didn’t come through for fiscal year 2019 and beyond. 

“If the money’s not there, it’s not there and it would go before the board,” Human Resources director Garry McLean said.

Roderick said this particular grant has changed its requirements over the years, which has actually benefited the county. In the past, the county was just given $30,000.

Now it actually receives more. She said other counties haven’t been going after the grant money because of tougher requirements to obtain the grant. However, Sweetwater County has no problem meeting those requirements.

In the future, as funding gets tight for more counties, they may work to meet those requirements and the grant could become more competitive and harder to obtain.