Coordination center moves forward

Lenny Layman, Carbon County Emergency Manager, is one step closer to realizing the vision of a Carbon County Coordination Center following two significant donations to the project from energy companies operating in Wyoming.

The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) were notified of the two donations during the November 10 meeting. As was reported previously (see “Managing a coordinated plan” on page 7 of the September 23 Saratoga Sun), an initial donation of $15,000 from the Sinclair Oil Corporation (Sinclair) allowed Layman to pursue a matching grant from the State of Wyoming through a supplemental Emergency Manager Performance Grant (EMPG-S).

Since then, two more companies have contributed similar amounts to the project with one of being Rocky Mountain Power. While it was expected for the company to provide a “Bob Barker Check” to the BOCCC similar to Sinclair, Business Manager Ron Wild was unable to attend due to weather and travel restrictions.

In addition to the donation from Rocky Mountain Power, another donation from Quanta Electric Power Construction (QEPC) for the amount of $15,000 had come in to put the total amount of donations towards the Carbon County Coordination Center at $45,000.

“Because of that additional donation, our EMPG-S grant, I sent in an amendment. That amendment has been filed and today I’m looking for two signatures on that amendment which would take it up to $45,000. So we have the $15,000 from Sinclair, $15,000 from Rocky Mountain Power and now the $15,000 from QEPC,” said Layman. “So, the matching grant will be up to $45,000 as well.”

Should the EMPG-S grant be matched for the full amount, the Carbon County Emergency Management office would have $90,000 for the coordination center.

The BOCCC will have met at 9 a.m. on November 17 at the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins. The next meeting of the BOCCC will be at 9 a.m. on December 1 at the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins.