By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A county task force appointed to oversee allotment of a $2.39 million state grant submitted its report to the state Monday.

The state’s Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas grant was created to aid local governments and nonprofits with COVID-19 costs and stimulate the economy.

Emergency manager Randy Frank’s requests for grant money included $33,473 to build a storage facility for emergency protective supplies.

“I think the location is somewhere near the county sheriff’s office,” task force chairman Rusty Allen said.

The task force put in another $98,190 for a mobile emergency command center for the emergency management department.

The state’s deadline to approve the plan is Sept. 15.

Amendments can be made to the plan if it is rejected.

“I don’t know what the deadline for amendments is,” Allen said. “We can make amendments after the plan even after the plan has been approved.”

The first payments will be reimbursements of $129,737 already spent by cities, the county, and a fire district.

In that round of payments, Marion County is expected to get $111,907, which includes accounting fees and pay for an administrative assistant hired for the project.

Florence is expected to get $541.

Goessel is expected to get $160.

Hillsboro is expected to get $15,820.

Marion is expected to get $637.

Lincolnville Fire is expected to get $670.

Under the rules of the grant program, the county cannot reimburse the expenses until the state approves the grant spending plan.

The remaining $2.26 million of the grant will be direct aid to pay for future expenses.

The county needs to find out if that money can be paid out before the end of the year, Allen said.

“We reached out to the various participating entities and we asked them so needed items can be purchased and stockpiled,” he said.

Allen said the grant might not cover all COVID-19 related expenses of the county’s schools, but it will come close.