Nearly $1 Million Grant Going to Pay for Local Emergency Radios

Six local fire departments along with Fayette County EMS will get new radios thanks to a grant totalling nearly $950,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Schulenburg Volunteer Fire Department led the effort to secure the grant funds. Schulenburg Fire Chief Jeff Proske said federal regulations require all first responder agencies to convert to the P-25 system of radio communications by 2025.

“Between now and then, everyone will have to get their radios changed one way or the other,” Proske said.

The P-25 system is supposed to offer greater interconnectivity between first responders including fire departments, EMS and law enforcement. Schulenburg VFD invited all of the fire departments in Fayette County along with Fayette County EMS to join them in the grant application last year. The fire departments in La Grange, Winchester, Ellinger, Round Top-Warrenton and Carmine signed onto the grant, in addition to the EMS.

The seven agencies had to contribute 10 percent of the total award. That amounts to a huge savings to the agencies that participated. Proske praised Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator Angela Hahn for assisting his department with applying for the grant.

“She was top notch,” said Proske. “We would have never been able to do this without her.”

Proske said the radios would have cost his department alone nearly $300,000 at retail prices. Instead, SVFD will get the radios for a match contribution of just $22,000. The six other agencies will see similar savings.

“We’re really excited and everything is ready to go, but one little glitch happened at the very end,” Proske told the Schulenburg City Council on Monday, June 5.

Proske said his department set up a special bank account for the grant funds. However, FEMA incorrectly deposited the funds into a City of Schulenburg bank account. Proske informed the Schulenburg City Council about the mistake at Monday’s meeting.

“We sent them all of the correct information,” Proske said. “Everything was right. But the powers that be at FEMA decided to send the money to the City of Schulenburg.”

City Administrator Tami Walker said the mistake could cost the City between $4,300 to $10,000.

“When you receive over $750,000 in federal funds or state and federal funds combined, you are automatically triggered for a single audit,” Walker said.

“On top of our regular audit, we will be hit with a single audit,” she said. “A single audit will be anywhere between $4,300 and $10,000.”

Councilman Greg “Wolf” Thomas asked whether the six other agencies could assist with the audit cost.

“Are they aware we could take a $10,000 hit because the money got put in the wrong account?” Thomas asked.

Proske said the other agencies were not aware of the mistake.

“I’m just wondering, since they benefit from this also, can we be compensated somewhere on the back side for this?” Thomas asked.

Proske said he did not want to ask the other departments for compensation until he knows what the audit will cost.

“I don’t have any problem with asking them, but I don’t think we have a way to hold them to it,” Proske said.

Walker said the City’s fire department budget often ends the year with a surplus. She said the cost of the audit could be paid with that surplus.

Schulenburg Assistant Fire Chief Drew Brossmann said the radios will still come at a great savings even if the City has to cover the audit cost on its own.

“This was an unfunded state mandate they pushed down to have these P-25 radios by 2025,” Brossmann said. “If we would have not done all this paperwork for the grant, if we would have just stepped back and come to you for these radios, you would have been looking at almost $300,000, compared to $4,300 to $10,000.”

Mayor Connie Koopmann praised the fire department for teaming up with the other departments to secure the grant.

“In talking with your grant writer, she was very surprised y’all were awarded this since it was your first try,” Koopmann said. “It was very beneficial that you went out and did a regional grant instead of just Schulenburg. I feel for the four that didn’t join in.”

The four Fayette County fire departments who did not join in the grant were Ledbetter VFD, Flatonia Fire and Rescue, Muldoon VFD and Fayetteville VFD.