Safe rooms, a new fire department building and possibly in the future, even an assisted living type facility for veterans…those are some of the projects that local county and city governments are working to secure for Albany and Clinton County.

During the regular meeting of Clinton County Fiscal Court last Thursday, May 17, those projects were discussed by fiscal court members, Albany Mayor Nicky Smith and other officials and may become realities soon, especially the safe rooms and fire station.

Safe Rooms: Anna White with the Lake Cumberland Community Action Agency, who is working with the county in securing these type buildings that are primarily known as locations where residents can go for safety during severe weather, discussed possible funding for such buildings last week.

White noted that the local Hazard Mitigation Plan had targeted the need for such safe room facilities, especially in wake of the area being in a severe weather system zone where tornadoes and severe storms are evident.

These facilities, if realized, could not only be used for residents to go in case of tornado or severe storm threats, but in the event of any type natural disaster and could be used for other purposes such as housing people following a disaster situation.

The “safe rooms,” according to White, hold about 100 people each.

Apparently grant funding is available from Homeland Security for construction of such facilities and although they would be in the form of matching grants, the “in-kind” match could include such things as the land or property in which the facilities would be placed.

White suggested that to better the possibility of obtaining funding, Clinton should go in with two or three other counties in applying and suggested that if in-kind matches, such as land availability, was a part of the application, it may mean no out-of-pocket expenses to the counties involved.

The pre-application for funding is mid-June, White told the court.

Apparently, should Clinton be awarded funds for such safe rooms–with the number of facilities depending on the amount of the grant awarded and cost of construction for each–some of the locations locally could be on county-owned property, such as at or near voting houses.

Following some discussion and questions from the court, a motion was made by Magistrate Ricky Craig to authorize Judge/Executive Lyle Huff to execute a resolution to apply for funding for the project. The motion passed unanimously.

Fire Department: This would be somewhat of a collaboration project with the City of Albany and county, given the fact that the location for the new proposed facility–if funds are awarded would be on current county owned property.

Apparently the city is applying for a CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) to construct a new fire station and the situation basically came about after the new Dollar General Market was constructed in north Albany, near the current fire department building.

Because of the added congestion in that particular area and the problems with ingress and egress for the fire department, it became more evident that a new location was needed.

Mayor Nicky Smith, who was at last week’s court meeting, Judge Huff and officials for Air Evac have been in communication about property at the Air Evac site, between that and the Wellness Center across from the high school.

Shaun Hale, an official with Air Evac, addressed the court about the property and indicated there was enough property between the two facilities (Air Evac and the Wellness Center) to construct a fire department building.

Magistrate Mickey Riddle questioned whether or not there would also be enough room in that area to construct one of the aforementioned safe rooms and other magistrates questioned what would happen to the property if the city was denied funds for a new fire station.

According to County Attorney Michael Rains, should the facility not be constructed for any reason, the property itself would revert back to the county.

Apparently the city, when applying for CDBG funds, needs to have property in place to help enhance their chances of receiving the grant necessary to construct the building.

Following some discussion, a motion was made by Magistrate Craig to allow the judge/executive to proceed in obtaining the land at the Air Evac location for the fire station contingent upon the city receiving grant money to build it, and further that the land revert back to the county if funds aren’t made available. The motion passed by unanimous vote.

Judge Huff said he had been in discussions with not only the mayor and Air Evac officials, but also with fire department officials Rob Winsett and Fire Chief Robert Roeper about the proposed location.

Mayor Smith, prior to exiting the meeting, thanked the court for their consideration of the new fire department building proposal on behalf of himself, the city and the fire department.

Assisted Living: The assisted living facility for Clinton County veterans is a project that, for now, is on the back burner, but still a project in the works.

Earl Claborn, local Veterans Administration representative, addressed the court about the number of veterans now living in the county and the benefits such a facility, or area would be for older veterans in the county who sometimes have to move to the VA facility in Wilmore, Kentucky, as opposed to being able to stay and live in Clinton County.

Claborn noted the latest figures indicate there are 825 war veterans in Clinton County who received $3.8 million in VA benefits of some type last fiscal year. He noted that about 25 percent of local veterans use some type of VA facilities and also noted he has some veteran clients from surrounding counties contact him for assistance.

Claborn indicated a needs assessment for such a facility has been done and Judge Huff noted he was working with the VA on possible funding for a facility for local veterans. He also added that a local couple in south Albany had even offered to donate land where such a facility could be constructed.

Judge Huff said after the meeting that initially going forward with trying to obtain funds for an assisted living facility was a top priority to him, but said that after it became apparent the fire department was in more immediate need of a new fire station because of its current congested location, the assisted living facility, although still in the works, is behind the need for a new fire department because of the number of residents in the county the fire department serves.

Although no official action was taken on the proposed assisted living project at this time the county will continue to pursue ways to fund such a project for the many older veterans in the county that could possibly benefit by it.