Lincoln County Emergency Management has a new home.
The old Tool Time Rental in Chandler was recently purchased using grant funds and Use Tax funds on Feb. 12. The building will allow for the agency to move most of its assets to one central location, according to Emergency Management Director Charlotte Brown.
Brown said they received an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant, with the state rewarding half the funds and the County paying for the other half.
The new building will have offices as well as a back area with two bay doors that will allow for maintenance on vehicles and storage. It also has a fenced-in yard, so assets will be secured. Currently, the department’s assets are spread around at their current location, the overflow lot at the courthouse, and at the tower building north of Chandler.
“The training area is what I’m really excited about because we’ll be able to host multi-agency trainings between the emergency management, law enforcement, fire. And then offer it to all those agencies, too. So if they need to put on a training, you’re more than welcome to use that side,” Brown said.
Brown said having a building for the department has always been a thought, so when the grant application opened up for state ARPA funds, she immediately got permission to go for it.
She said it will also be nice to have a space that they can make their own, and that they were fortunate to find a building that could meet all of their needs, as well as have the support to get it.
“It was very, it was just nice that they (the County Commissioners) were all very open and allowing us to get a space. And it just seemed like this building, it ticked off all the things on the list that we needed, so it was perfect,” she said.
Emergency Management hasn’t moved in yet, but Brown said they hope to have an open house for the community to come in and ask questions about assets and their work.