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Police jury to receive $1 million
The Franklin Parish Police Jury will receive at least $1 million in Homeland Security funds to improve parish and city buildings and facilities to make them more structurally secure in dangerous weather.
According to police jury treasurer Larry Clark, who addressed the jury at its regular meeting June 12, "The parish is guaranteed $1 million and we are going to apply for several thousand more from additional funds made available to the state."
"We may or may not get the other funds because they are on a competitive basis and will probably go to projects in south Louisiana, but we are going to try," Clark said.
The funding is through a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (www.fema.-gov/government/grant/hmgp/index.shtm) to help reduce the loss of life and property in the event of a disaster.
The majority of the projects involve "wind retrofit" and a few include the installation generators.
In general, wind retrofit includes installing window protection such as shatterproof glass and shutters, replacing exterior doors with wind-rated/storm-proof doors and installing roof straps. For projects needing generators, a structure to shield the generator from weather hazards is included.
According to Bill Mulkey, Franklin Parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the parish earlier received a $150,000 planning grant that was used to hire the consulting firm Higher Ground from Baton Rouge to examine buildings in the parish to determine what would be needed to make them more disaster-proof.
"They did 'scoping' of our buildings to determine what needed to be done," Mulkey said. "So when the money became available, we already had our projects ready and scoped and knew what we wanted to do."
Mulkey said the applications from the parish are in excess of $1 million, so the list had to be prioritized.
"Hopefully the ones that don't get done on this funding cycle maybe will get funding in the future. But we can do a lot with a million dollars," Mulkey said.
Franklin Parish's priority list in the application for the grant includes the following.
• Franklin Parish Sheriff's Office (Emergency Operations Center) – Wind retrofit, $51,000 to $64,000
• Winnsboro Fire Department – Wind retrofit, $37,000 to $46,000
• Franklin Medical Center – Wind retrofit, $363,000 to $445,000
• Franklin Parish Courthouse – Wind retrofit, $202,204 to $297,564
• Northeast Ambulance Service – Wind retrofit and generator, $73,000 to $91,000
• Gilbert Police Station/City Hall – Wind retrofit and generator, $37,000 to $47,000
• Winnsboro Police Station – Retrofit and generator, $36,000 to $45,000
• Winnsboro Town Hall – Wind retrofit, $26,000 to $33,000
• Franklin Parish High School Gymnasium – Wind retrofit and generator, $220,000 to $269,000
• West Winnsboro Water System – Generator, $27,900 to $34,100
The privately owned Northeast Louisiana Ambulance building is included in the grant request because in an emergency it becomes critical to the public welfare and safety.
The police jury sent a letter of intent outlining these projects to the state hazard mitigation officer last week and the final application is due July 31.
Mulkey said the funding would be in place relatively soon after the projects are approved. |
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