GRANTS TO DESOTO COUNTY BOOST EMERGENCY SERVICS, DUI ENFORCEMENT By Henry Bailey Published Friday, August 9, 2013 DeSoto County government gives as well as gets: Grants for fiscal 2014 were received for Emergency Services staffing and Sheriff’s Department DUI enforcement, and the county this week issued grants of its own to several causes deemed worthy. Susan Fernandez, executive director of the Hernando Main St. Chamber of Commerce, requested and received $3,500, the same amount as the previous four years, for support of the chamber’s annual Water Tower Festival. This year’s edition of the popular fall event is Oct. 11-12 and features music, food and crafts vendors and a 10K walk/run. “It’s our biggest event,” said Fernandez. An urgent request from House of Grace, a ministry that provides services to victims of domestic abuse, was met with $3,000, approved for now as an advance on next year’s allocation. Organizers of the annual fall Prayer Breakfast at the Landers Center in Southaven got a $250 boost, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which is planning a fundraising golf tournament, got a $350 assist. “We appreciate the work you do in our high schools,” Supervisor Lee Caldwell of Nesbit told fellowship activist Cecil Sowell and District 2 director John Engstrom. “It makes a difference.” As to grants to the county, administrator Melissa Zizmann said DeSoto Emergency Services was getting a $55,000 Homeland Security training exercise grant, and a $60,000 Homeland Security award to offset task force coordinator salaries. Also, EMS was in line for a $70,000 to $75,000 Mississippi Emergency/Federal Emergency Services Agency grant to offset management-performance expenditures. “We’ve been getting that one for the past 12 or 13 years,” said Zizmann. Meanwhile, coming to the Sheriff’s Department are two state grants from the Department of Public Safety: a $24,000 occupant-protection award to aid enforcement of seat belt and child-restraint laws, and $157,432 for enhancing enforcement of impaired-driving laws. The latter “will fund three DUI officers for the year” beginning Oct. 1, said Sheriff Bill Rasco. He noted that two officers have been recognized for more than 100 DUI arrests/cases in the past year. “We’re real excited about the DUI and occupant grants; these will help public safety,” said Zizmann. She also received supervisors’ OK to seek a $3,000 educational grant from the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi for the DeSoto Youth Court mentoring program, and a $10,000 public-relations award from AutoZone to offset the cost of the county’s planned Earth Day observance next year. “All these grants we’re getting are a huge benefit for the county,” reflecting more services that won’t tap the burdened county budget, said Supervisor Harvey Lee of Hernando. “Melissa has been a good hire, and I’ve told her to keep up the good work.” Zizmann joined the county in April after several years as Hernando’s assistant director of parks and recreation, where she honed grant-writing skills. In another Emergency Services matter, the Board of Supervisors approved a memorandum of understanding for EMS to use at no cost the Mississippi Wireless Information Network, known as MSWIN. The Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission, established by the state Legislature, is implementing the network, a 700 MHz digital statewide system, to provide improved, expanded radio service to wireless users in state and local governments. DeSoto EMS deputy director Tim Curtis was appointed communications liaison. Sheriff Rasco expressed some concerns about the county being tapped for a share of maintenance costs for the system, but Supervisor Lee said “if it starts to cost us, we can jump out” of the system. The supervisors also approved a $129,537 contract with Precision Communications of Tupelo to provide and install five more emergency warning sirens across the county. The locations are the ACI fire station off Red Banks Road, the Lewisburg fire station off Byhalia Road, the new Nesbit fire station off Nesbit Road, the Buena Vista community center in southwest DeSoto County and the Miss. 301 ball fields area north of Goodman Road, said EMS deputy director Chris Olson.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 15:12:26 +0000