Assistant Metro Editor
The money pays for projects along routes from Calhoun County in case of an accident at the Anniston Army Depot’s chemical weapons stockpile. It brings the county’s total CSEPP budget for this fiscal year to $16.6 million.
However, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency has the money, and commissioners plan to meet with state officials this week to discuss how it will be given to the county, said Robert Downing, chairman of the Calhoun County Commission.
Workers at the Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility have been destroying tons of Cold War-era chemical weapons stored at the depot since Aug. 9 that have been stored there since the 1960s.
The Calhoun County Commission has for years received money under CSEPP to prepare for an accident at the Anniston Army Depot’s chemical weapons stockpile.
"It’s very important," Downing said. "If there is an accident at the depot that requires evacuation, having these infrastructure improvements would be very important."
Commissioners have a list of about 19 road and bridge projects totaling more than $18 million worth of improvements.
Because the county must submit a work plan to the state, commissioners will discuss the projects after County Engineer Charles Markert completes a list of projects for the $10 million, Downing said.
No timeline has been set, though county officials hope it will become clear this week. The county has to spend the money by Sept. 30, 2005, county officials said.
"It’s like anything else in the CSEPP budget, we have to sign the documents and they have to be sent to the state," said Faye Robertson, assistant county administrator. "The money comes down to the state and we have to abide by whatever guidance the state and county agree to for record keeping and draw downs on this money."
Downing said the money was secured on Capitol Hill by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
"Sen. Shelby played an important role in getting these funds," Downing said. "And we’re looking forward to working with the state to start making the improvements we need to make."
Scott Adcock, a spokesman for the state EMA, said his organization would meet with the commission, but the money would come to the county as many other grant agreements.
"The money is funded and paid for, we administer the funds at the state level," he said. "As the invoices are submitted by the county, the amount is paid to them."
Commissioners have been pursuing federal money to prepare for a chemical accident or incident for much of the past decade.
At times, it has been contentious, but commissioners aren’t looking at the money as impact fees or compensation for the expenses the county has incurred for having the stockpile here as other communities with stockpiles have.
"I think it’s more of a preparedness issue than impact money," Downing said. "Tooele County, Utah, was awarded impact fees that they have been able to use at their discretion to improve quality-of-life infrastructure in their county, we’ve never been able to do that. But the improvements to the roads and bridges for evacuation are going to be nice to have whether we have a demil facility or not. It will be nice to have the money when we get it.
"We’re going to do the best job we can to make sure the money is accounted for, but we know there will be a lot of eyes watching us."