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County fire prevention funds up in the air |
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
 Inyo County has more than $16,000 remaining in a Fire Prevention and County Planning grant that is earmarked strictly for fire education and prevention. If no one responds with a plan for the funds after a 45-day comment period, the county will turn the money over to Inyo County Search and Rescue. File photo By Mike Gervais
Register Staff 6-14-2008 More than $16,000 remains in Inyo County’s Fire Prevention and County Planning grant for this fiscal year, and eligible organizations have approximately 45 days to submit an application to receive a portion of the money for a special project.
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to open a 45-day comment period to allow citizens and local organizations time discuss possible uses for the extra cash.
If no one comes forward with a proposal for the money, the county plans to utilize it to help purchase new equipment for Inyo County Search and Rescue.
Back in April, the Board of Supervisors distributed the $72,613.68 grant amongst the Inyo County Office of Education, Inyo County Search and Rescue and the Inyo County Fire Prevention and County Planning Grant program.
The Inyo County Office of Education received $36,306.84 and Inyo County Search and Rescue, received $12,344.32 of the original $72,613.
The county elected to deposit $23,962 in the grant program and, in May, the Board issued a request for proposals, seeking projects and organizations with an interest in protecting residents and property from fire hazards.
In order to be eligible for the Fire Prevention and County Planning grant money, the applying organization must develop a program that educates homeowners in fire-sensitive ecosystems about the consequences of wildfires and introduce survivable space techniques or implement or initiate efforts to reduce or mitigate the impact of development on adjacent federal lands and increase the protection of people and property from wildfires.
Only one proposal was submitted at that time.
The Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department requested a $7,500 grant to aid in work with CalFire on educating Lone Pine residents about the consequences of wildfires and introducing survivable space techniques. The department also plans to use the money for property inspections, distribution of flyers on fire safety and to host two community meetings to advise the public of local resources that are available with regards to wildfire safety.
Even with the money being awarded to the Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department, the Fire Prevention and County Planning Grant balance is still at $16,462.
“A couple years ago the same thing happened,” Inyo County Administrative Officer Kevin Carunchio told the board on Tuesday, “We are recommending that this money be rolled over to the Search and Rescue, but for that to happen we need to have a 45-day comment period,” he said.
“This would give us some opportunities for Search and Rescue that we don’t have now,” Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze told the board Tuesday, noting that the money would be utilized to upgrade the team’s equipment, “especially in communications.”
The other option the board was faced with on Tuesday was to submit another request for proposals regarding the remaining money.
Fifth District Supervisor Richard Cervantes initially supported that route, saying that there is at least one project within his district that could utilize the money.
According to Cervantes, several years ago the Lone Pine Fire Safe Council, which is a tribal entity, embarked on a project to remove dead and dying trees from the Lone Pine area to cut back on fire hazards. At the conclusion of that project only 50 tree stumps remained in the area. Cervantes said that each stump would cost between $4 to $12 to take to the Lone Pine Landfill
“I would like to, if possible, utilize some of the remaining money to remove some of those stumps,” he said, noting that it would not take too much money to complete the job.
Carunchio made note that the county is unable to award the Fire Prevention and County Planning grants to any Native American organization because, as sovereign nations, the county would have no way to enforce the guidelines for the use of the money.
The board decided to move forward with the 45-day comment period, the first step in allocating the money to Search and Rescue, as community groups had ample time to apply for the grant funding.
First District Supervisor Linda Arcularius noted that any group interested in applying for the Fire Prevention and County Planning Grant is welcome to submit a comment during the 45-day period.
Cervantes commented that he would be in touch with Lone Pine community organizations and see if there is a non-Native group willing to apply for the money and take on the stump removal task.
At the conclusion of the comment period, the board will schedule another agenda item at a regular meeting to deliberate on the comments received. At that time the county will decide if it will hand the money over to Search and Rescue, or if it will submit another request for proposals.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 July 2008 )
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