Community center, shelter meeting Sept. 9 in Garland

GARLAND -- A public meeting to gauge citizen interest in a potential project to build a community building and storm shelter in the town is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9, at the Garland Park.

The purpose of the meeting, which is open to the public and sponsored by the Drywood Township Board, is to give area residents a chance to voice their opinions on whether or not town officials should seek state grants to construct a 40-foot-by-60-foot, 5,000-square foot community center on Main Street across from the old fire station in Garland. The facility would also contain a 8-foot-by-20-foot steel reinforced storm shelter, a structure the town currently does not have.

About 60 residents of the small, unincorporated town currently have nowhere to go in the event of a severe storm, natural disaster or other crisis situation, and town officials want to rectify that situation, Drywood Township Trustee Darrell Bloomfield said. Bloomfield has lived in the area for about 11 years.

"We're trying to keep the community in mind," Bloomfield said. "With all the storms going on nowadays, we need to get this going. It's been quite an undertaking but we feel like we've crawled over that first bridge, so to speak."

Bloomfield added that he strongly supports the idea of letting citizens know about activities taking place in their community, especially activities that significantly affect those people.

"I'm not one to dodge anything," he said. "I like people to know what we're doing, and this is something that we need."

Bourbon County Commissioner Bill Brittain, who presides over the second district including Drywood Township, said he might attend the meeting to hear feedback from the public on the issue. Brittain said the informational meeting is the first in a series of steps the Drywood Township board has to complete before seeking grant money to help finance the construction project.

After the Sept. 9 meeting, the township board will then have to appear before the Bourbon County Commission to request a public hearing and issue public notice on the matter. At that hearing, the board would then ask the commission to officially apply for a state grant on behalf of the board, Bloomfield said.

Brittain said he supports the township board in their effort to bring a positive addition to the small community, and that the board has taken the right steps thus far in bringing the project to fruition.

"We've been working really close together," Brittain said. "I think we're up to speed on everything. Everything looks good."

Brittain added that a new community building with a built-in storm shelter would benefit citizens in several ways. The shelter would provide a safe room for people to take shelter in during severe weather and other crisis situations, while the community building would serve as a site for public and private events, including family reunions, weddings, and other community gatherings, Brittain said.

The safe room inside the building would provide shelter for about 35 people, Bloomfield said. The new building would also have hook-ups that would allow a generator town officials recently received from the county to be connected to the building in case of an emergency, such as a townwide power outage. The building would also contain two full-size restrooms, he said.

Laura Moore, a grant administrator from Pittsburg State University, and Rick Zingre, the architect for the building, have already been selected and both will be present at the public meeting, Bloomfield said. Town officials have also determined the site where the center will be built, and have already purchased the land where the site is located, he said.

During the meeting, there will also be a question-and-answer session in which the public may address Moore, Zingre, or members of the township board. Citizens will also be able to observe preliminary construction plans for the community building, Bloomfield said.

Brittain said there are several state grants available to fund the project. Typically, most grants are first awarded to projects that will make the biggest impact and affect the most people, but the chances that Garland officials will receive some type of assistance either now or in the near future is fairly good, Brittain said.

"What will get them (organization that issues the grant) the biggest bang for the buck, so to speak," he said. "That's what they're looking for. Sometimes they don't get those grants the first year, but they have to keep trying."