By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
During its meeting Monday, the Washington
City Council is expected give its
approval for the city to solicit congressional
letters of support for the city’s request
for a grant to help build an emergency
operations center in the new police station
the city plans to build.
The city is seeking a $457,000 grant to
pay for the center. The grant application
goes to the N.C. Department of Crime
Control and Public Safety, which serves
as the administrative office processing
such grant requests in the state. The grant
funds come from the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security.
The grant could help pay for some of
the cost of building a new police station,
according to Bianca Gentile, who’s identifying
grant opportunities for the city.
If funded and incorporated into the new
police station, the center would replace the
temporary emergency operations center,
which is not large enough or adequately
equipped to serve as a permanent facility,
according to city officials.
The North Carolina Emergency Management
Act requires the city to “maintain
coordinated efforts to prepare for, respond
to, and recover from emergencies and
disasters,” according to state laws.
“However, the existing Emergency
Operations Center, which was dedicated
as a temporary EOC, impedes the implementation
of coordinated response and
relief efforts as it is vulnerable to natural
and man-made threats, is undersized and
under-equipped,” reads a letter drafted by
Mayor Archie Jennings for dissemination
to selected members of the state’s congressional
delegation. “Construction of an
Emergency Operations Center will assist
municipal, regional and federal efforts
to respond to pre-planned or no-notice
events in a space that allows for appropriate
staffing levels and modern technology,
two critical components currently lacking
in the municipality’s temporary EOC.
Additionally, cohabitating the EOC with
the new Washington Police Department
and Communications Center capitalizes
on coordination of emergency and public
safety assets and ensures communication
efforts and relief services are delivered
uninterrupted at critical
times.”
Jennings’ letter notes
that since the Department
of Homeland Security
implemented this competitive
grant program, no
North Carolina municipality
or county has been
awarded a grant under
the grant program. The
mayor wrote that Beaufort
County has more shoreline
than any other county in
the state, which makes it
vulnerable to natural disasters
like storm surges and
hurricanes, thus increasing
the city’s need for coordinate
response efforts.
If the city receives the
grant, it would be combined
with $153,000 from
the city and a loan through
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s communityfacilities
program, thereby
“promoting interagency
coordination in the name of
public safety on the federal
and local level,” the letter
reads.
Among its other agenda
items is a discussion of the
status of grants the city
has received, has applied
for or may seek. Council
members have asked to be
updated on existing grants
and grants being pursued
so they are aware of all of
them.
The council’s agenda
for its Monday meeting
is available by visiting
g o v e r n m e n t _
agendas.aspx.
The City Council meets
at 5:30 p.m. in the Council
Chambers of the Municipal
Building, 102 E. Second St.