LAWTON — The Comanche County Board of Commissioners has earmarked approximately $116,177 in federal pandemic relief aid for emergency management-related projects.
The board voted 3-0 June 5 to approve two notices of award and subrecipient award agreements with the Comanche County Facilities Authority, which operates the county’s emergency management department. The first agreement was for a $40,000 grant to the authority, which will use the money to update the county’s data transmission system to a high-speed dedicated network.
The upgrade will allow the emergency management department to go virtual in case of a disaster or large-scale event, according to the board’s agenda.
The authority also received a $76,177.44 grant for providing equipment, medical direction and notification software to volunteer fire departments, the dispatch center and emergency management, according to the agenda. The equipment will help those departments respond to, manage and document medical emergencies.
In addition to the emergency management grants, the commission finalized three grants totaling $89,631 for projects at the Comanche County Detention Center.
Those included:
• A $3,043 grant for buffers and pads for cleaning equipment that can reduce the spread of contagious diseases, including COVID-19, at the jail.
• A $64,988 grant for personal protective equipment to reduce the spread of contagious diseases at the jail.
• A $21,600 grant to buy COVID-19 analyzer cartridges, which will help the jail test for contagious diseases.
The grants came from the county’s share of money under the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal law designed to help local governments recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Oklahoma received $1.8 billion in ARPA dollars, and Comanche County’s share of that money was about $23 million.
The county must allocate its ARPA funds by December 2024 and spend the money by the end of 2026.