Staff writer
Families and Communities Together Director Ashlee Gann and former director Linda Ogden informed Marion County Commission on Monday that the organization is going to receive a large federal grant.
FACT will receive a Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Grant for $28,773 a year for five years. The grant comes from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. It will be used to start Students Against Destructive Decision groups, go to other Marion County organizations designed to curb underage drinking, and pay for FACT’s administrative costs, Ogden said.
One of the reasons FACT receives the grant is because it has a $7,500 grant already from Kansas that goes toward anti-drinking organizations, Ogden said. FACT will use those funds for after prom programs and local law enforcement efforts.
Ogden said research shows that certain sections of Marion County have a high percentage of underage drinkers.
In other business:
- Lightning struck the courthouse last week and damaged computers, switches, and electrical ports, County Clerk Carol Maggard said. Maggard said she would keep the commission up-to-date with the insurance claim process.
- The county loses its lease on a spec building in the industrial park in Marion on Oct. 6, when it must remove all items from the building Maggard said. The county currently houses trailers and a truck for Marion County Economic Development. Commissioners discussed leaving the items on a nearby lot until they can find a replacement building.
- The commission approved a 300-foot cell phone tower to be constructed at 320th Road and K-15, four miles from the county line.
- Environmental Health Director Tonya Richards told the commission that Marion County Park and Lake will be included in the Cottonwood River WRAPS program and will be eligible to receive funding for cattle related projects.
- Emergency Medical Services Director Steve Smith told the commission that he would be speaking with an official from Herington about emergency calls along the Dickinson and Marion County border. The discussion will center around what kind of calls the department would respond to and other details of a mutual aid agreement.
- Emergency Management Director Dan D’Albini brought a contract from TBS Communications Inc. agreeing to perform maintenance on county radio repeaters. The contract was for about $14,000, but commissioners asked D’Albini to include the repeater in Marion that the county is taking over from Marion Fire Department and return with a new bid.
- The commission approved Sunland Construction of Waynesboro, Ky., to do excavation around Indigo Road.