Drywood Township officials continue storm shelter effort

Drywood Township officials are continuing their efforts to get a community center and storm shelter constructed in Garland.

"We want the people to know that we didn't lay down and give up," Drywood Township Trustee Darrell Bloomfield said. "We feel like we have an obligation to the community."

About a year ago, the Bourbon County Commission and several Garland residents agreed to support a project to build a nearly $300,000, 5,000-square-foot community center and storm shelter in the small southeastern Bourbon County town, which has a population of about 60 people. Drywood Township contains about 300 people.

In October 2007, the commission voted to submit a Community Block Development Grant to the Kansas Department of Commerce on behalf of Drywood Township to build the facility, which would be used by local residents for various community events. The building was initially supposed to also contain an 8-by-20-foot steel and concrete reinforced storm shelter that would house about 35-40 people during severe storms and other crisis situations.

Drywood Township didn't receive the grant, but are not ceasing their plans to get the facility built. A public hearing concerning the township's effort to re-apply for the CDBG grant is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Friday at the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. National Ave. Various local, state and national politicians who support the project are expected to attend the hearing, Bloomfield said.

Laura Moore, a certified grant administrator at Pittsburg State University who helped Drywood Township search for grants last year, said the original grant application was most likely denied due to extremely limited KDOC funding for this type of project.

"Any community is rated on a scale from zero to 100," she said. "The highest are awarded until funding runs out. I just assume the funding ran out, and Garland was down on the list. It's a very competitive project and there's a limit on how much money each year is awarded to projects."

Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers said the design of the facility has been changed so that Drywood Township has a better chance at receiving the grant, and so it will better benefit Bourbon County as a whole, not just Drywood Township.

"We would authorize the Red Cross to use it as needed," Jeffers said. "So if something happens say in Fort Scott, we can send some people to Garland -- it's another option."

Jeffers said he is still in the process of trying to determine a location for a designated storm shelter in Fort Scott, which is the only town in Bourbon County not to have such a shelter. In the event of a large-scale disaster or emergency, local residents would be informed to move to various shelters throughout the county, he said.

Jeffers said that the center's previous design only included one safe room inside the building which would have been designated as a shelter in case of a severe storm or other crisis, such as a tornado, ice storm, blizzard, or a chemical or radiological disaster. As required by Kansas law, the entire building must now be classified as a community building and all-hazard shelter, Jeffers said.

"It was just a room before, now the whole building will be more of a storm shelter that will house at least 40 people," he said.

The building and equipment inside it would operate using propane heat. Garland also has a generator that can be connected to the facility and used during power outages and other emergency situations, Jeffers said. The building would also feature solid concrete walls and reinforced steel doors. The building can also be used for community gatherings and special events.

A new facility would replace an old fire station that Garland currently uses as a storm shelter, Jeffers said.

"The problem with that is we're trying to move away from using fire stations as shelters," he said. "Firefighters can't stay behind and run the shelter if they're out on a fire call, and there's a safety issue with people using fire equipment. Preferably church basements and other buildings should be used as shelters."

A CDBG would provide up to $225,000 in project costs, while Drywood Township would need to come up with an in-kind match for the grant. Drywood Township is also trying to get assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which could also be used as matching funds for the grant. Officials have not received any information as yet from FEMA, Bloomfield said.

The completed center would be owned by Bourbon County and Drywood Township, while the township would be responsible for the facility's upkeep, as well as utility and maintenance costs. Bourbon County crews would prepare the construction site on 7,500-square-feet of land currently owned by Drywood Township.

Bloomfield also said the grant application has to be submitted by Oct. 31. Drywood Township officials should know by January whether they have received the CDBG, he said.