Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

Local first response agencies encouraged to apply

ST. JAMES—The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) will be accepting grant applications for the 2016 State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) now through April 15 from eligible applicants in Region I to purchase equipment for first responders. Region Iincludes Crawford, Dent, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Laclede counties, however, the grant program is statewide.

Eligible program applicants are local governments, nongovernmental organizations, quasi-governmental organizations and nonprofit organizations. Applicants must submit their applications online at dpsgrants.dps.mo by 5 p.m. on April 15. Region I has $70,000 in grant funds to award.

After the application deadline, the Region I Homeland Security Oversight Committee (HSOC) will conduct a peer review in May of all submitted applications and submit recommendations to SEMA.

Lyle Thomas, senior community development specialist at Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), said awardees should be announced soon after the review.

“We expect the funded applicants to be announced sometime in June, but funds probably won’t be released until October,” Thomas said.

MRPC serves as the fiscal agent and grant administrator for Region I.

“We procure equipment, process payment to the vendors, deliver equipment to first responders and try to be good stewards of taxpayer funds,” Thomas said.

The Missouri Office of Homeland Security makes grants available on at least an annual basis, based on allocations from the federal government. Each Missouri region is provided an allocation for local grants, which are determined by the local HSOC. Tabitha Stanfest of Salem Area Memorial Hospital serves as Region I HSOC chair, while Ron Smith, City of Rolla Fire and Rescue Chief, is vice chair.

The Region I HSOC last met on Jan. 28, 2016, at MRPC.

The board heard a report on grant expenditures for FY-2014 and FY-2015.

“Fiscal year 2014 round one grants are 62 percent expended, round two grants are 94.4 percent expended and fiscal year 2015 grants are 27.5 percent expended,” Thomas said.

Grant recipients in FY-2014, round one, were Sullivan Fire, Rolla HSRT and Region I CERT trainer fees and in FY-2014, round two, were Sullivan Fire Department and the Waynesville Police Department. FY-2015 grant recipients were Crocker Police Department, Waynesville Police Department, Sullivan Fire Department and Rolla HSRT.

In between meetings, the Region I HSOC has been updating its Threats and Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA), which identify gaps in resources and capabilities. The Region I HSOC will meet again at 1 p.m. April 21. The meeting is open to the public.

Three counties in the Meramec Region—Gasconade, Osage and Washington—are served through other regions. Gasconade and Osage counties are a part of Region F,which is being coordinated by the Mid-Missouri Regional Planning Commission at Ashland while Washington County is a part of the Region C, which is coordinated by the Boonslick Regional Planning Commission at Warrenton.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 24, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion.