Annual grant doubles to $717,800
Mercer Co. homeland security grant doubles
Mercer County has received approximately $717,800 in federal Homeland Security grant funds, nearly double the amount it received last year.
The funding, which landed Mercer County in the middle of the pack statewide in total funding received, will be put toward several projects aimed at improving the county’s emergency preparedness.
”This administration has aggressively pursued federal funding because of Mercer County’s unique concentration of important interstates, highways, railways and other transportation hubs,” said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. “We plan to use this money to increase our capability to handle a natural disaster or other incident.”
The county will receive approximately $647,000 once the state extracts a portion of the grant money to cover anticipated overtime costs during times of raised threat levels. Mercer received $330,723 in fiscal year 2006 in Homeland Security funding.
Mercer plans to use its 2007 funding to purchase a new Sensor IR device, which can detect whether or not a suspicious substance, such as an unknown white powder, is dangerous. In addition, new equipment will be purchased to upgrade the emergency communications system.