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Michael D. Pitman reports about Butler County, Ohio, politics, county government, countywide issues and Butler County people just like you for Cox Ohio Publishing (including the Hamilton JournalNews, Middletown Journal and several weekly papers in Butler County). He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment for him here or e-mail Michael at Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > April > 10 > Entry
EMA loses $79,500 in grants
The Butler County Emergency Management Agency has had to turn down $79,500 in state and federal grants, partly because the agency has no permanent director.
Butler County was slated to receive a $18,500 homeland security grant to conduct a regional exercise with Hamilton, Montgomery and Warren Counties this year. But planning for the exercise had to be started by March, and hasn’t been done.
“We didn’t want to do one and not do it the way it should be done,” said Sue Isaacs, interim EMA director who was appointed from office manager to keep the agency running.
“We can do it next year and do it right,” she said.
Another grant for $61,000 had to go back to the state because it was meant to reimburse the county for equipping a new Emergency Operations Center.
Butler County commissioners decided in January to move the EOC from a cramped office in downtown Hamilton to the former OSU Agricultural Extension Office — which also houses the new emergency communication system.
But the building needs roughly $1.2 million in renovations to bring it up to par, according to County Administrator Tim Williams. And that money isnt’ there.
“(It’s) like having an egg, but not having a nest to put it in right now,” Williams said.
Williams said the EMA would have lost that grant regardless of whether it still had a director.
Isaacs and Williams said the county will apply for the money again next year.
In the meantime, the governing board that controls the EMA is looking over more than 50 applications it has received for the director’s post. The board is meeting Wednesday, April 15, to go over the applications, Isaacs said.
The former director resigned after coming under intense criticism from county commissioners and the county Chiefs of Police Association.
As for other outstanding EMA grants — including another for $423,606 to outfit the new EOC — “I think everything else is in pretty good shape,” Isaacs said.
The full list of outstanding EMA grants, totaling $1.8 million, is below. Ignore my writing in the margins. The ones with little Xs next to them are the ones that were turned down, the ones with checks next to them have already been processed.
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Emergency Management Agency
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By Taxpayer
April 10, 2009 8:26 PM | Link to this
I frankly don’t understand why they are moving the Emergency Management Office, they talk about cramped space but they are not increasing the space available to the department. Current the foot print of the EMA Office is about 2600 square foot. The old Agricultural Building has a total foot print of 4400 square feet and half of that space has already been taken by the sheriff’s new Communications Division, leaving only 2200 square feet for EMA. I seem to also recall reading sometime ago in the Journal News that one reason the Agricultural Extention Office was moving was poor air quality which was making people sick in that building.
By Scott
April 12, 2009 6:28 PM | Link to this
I can’t understand why with the county out of money and laying off employees they are considering spending $1.5 million dollars to build more office space. Cramped space or not if the EMA has gotten by for all this time why is more space needed now?
By Ricardo
April 20, 2009 3:31 PM | Link to this
What is going on with the new county radio system. After three years and $35 million dollars it is still not in operation. Yet, the sheriff is hiring people to operate this radio system and it’s not even in operation yet. Is this another boondoggle gone wrong at the county? I’d like to know just were all that $35 million was spent.
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