Sheriff's Office To Receive 2 Grants, Equipment Upgrade

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN— The Washington County's Sheriff's Office will receive two grants, as well as an equipment upgrade for their radio towers, which use microwaves, the Washington County Board of Commissioners announced after their Tuesday meeting.

The county board accepted an Emergency Management Performance Grant of $111,730 Tuesday for the sheriff's office, which will help pay for managing local emergencies, the board said.

The grant will cover personnel costs over the last year for the Washington County Emergency Operations Center staff. It also requires a 100 percent match in funds which will be matched by levy dollars, the board said.

The second grant is from Office of National Drug Control Policy for participation in the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and will award the sheriff's office $96,530, the board said.

This grant will run through December 31, 2022. The program provides resources to agencies to address drug trafficking throughout the county, the board said.

The program also helps identify and disrupt drug trafficking organizations, money laundering organizations, reduce drug-related crime, and identify and respond to emerging drug trends, the board said.

No county match is required for this grant, the board said.

The county board also approved $128,300 contract on Tuesday with Aviat Networks.

The contract will allow Aviat Networks to work on phase two of an upgrade to the sheriff's office's radio towers, which use microwave equipment, the board said.

The radio towers use microwave links to provide data to the State of Minnesota's core system, the board said.

The previous equipment was installed in 2008 and is no longer supported by the factory, the board said.

The first phase included obtaining the equipment, and phase two includes removing the old equipment and replacing it with the new equipment which should be finished by Dec. 31, the board said.