Dover Foxcroft: Homeland Security Aid to Maine Cut
By Diana Bowley, Bangor Daily News, Maine
Jan. 2–DOVER-FOXCROFT — For the second consecutive year, federal homeland security money provided to Maine was reduced by about half, according to a state official.
Nearly $2.5 million in homeland security grants were awarded in 2006 to counties and municipalities across the state, according to Charles Jacobs, acting Maine Emergency Management Agency director.
The state had more than $9.5 million in grant requests and less than a third of that available in funding, according to a news release from Jacobs.
Because of the reduction, the criteria used to award grants in 2006 focused on communications, shelter and recovery operations, training and exercise for first responders and public awareness and education, according to Jacobs.
The grant applications submitted by various towns and counties were screened by a team representing local and state law enforcement, county emergency management, fire service, emergency medical service, hospitals and communications expertise.
Approved for funding was $413,895 for generators, training, software and communications equipment in Penobscot County and $70,406 for equipment in Piscataquis County.
Since Tom Iverson Jr. became Piscataquis County’s emergency management agency director two years ago, his only means of communication on the road has been his cellular telephone.
Having to make individual telephone calls to emergency responders in the event of a disaster such as an ice jam on the Piscataquis River in January 2005 or the lengthy power outage in Dover-Foxcroft last year is a time-consuming process, Iverson said.
“Professionally, I felt the need to have communication with all local, county and state [officials],” Iverson said. His request for two-way radios was included for funding.
Also funded in Piscataquis County was a generator for the Milo Town Hall, the purchase of new portable radios and an upgrade of the base radio system in Greenville, and an engineering study to address the communication gaps in the county.
Other counties received the following homeland security amounts: Somerset, $147,051; Waldo, $79,460; Washington, $23,947; Hancock, $361,983; Aroostook, $202,340; Kennebec, $62,056; York, $71,500; Oxford, $374,744; Lincoln, $102,279; Cumberland, $203,277; and Androscoggin, $339,447.
“We did our best to ensure that the best possible projects were funded across the state,” Jacobs said. “We looked at many innovative projects that were aimed at improving regional capability. In some cases only partial funding could be awarded for a particular project, but it’s a start.”
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Copyright (c) 2007, Bangor Daily News, Maine
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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