Disaster Response Trailer relocated to Ozark

 Covington County, Al.
Covington County has had to say goodbye to an outfitted disaster response trailer, granted in 2004 under a Department of Homeland Security grant.
One of the grant requirements was to assemble a team “with a high level of training” to respond to disasters; however, in the years since the award, the project was unable to be completed according to County EMA director Susan Harris at Monday’s commission meeting.
“When I was hired (in 2009), I tried to assemble a team and get the needed training, but I couldn’t,” Harris said. “So, the state asked to transfer the equipment and trailer to a place that was trained, which was the Ozark Fire Department.”
Harris said the trailer and equipment is made available to anyone in the state during a disaster.
“It only made sense to send the equipment to a place that was trained to use it,” she said.
Harris said the county was also required to transfer ownership of a 2006 Ford F150, which was used to pull the trailer.
On Monday, commissioners ratified the property’s transfer to Ozark.
In other business, the commission:
• appropriated $13,362 to replace a sheriff’s department car that was totaled in December when struck by another driver.
• appointed Kennith Mount to replace Jason Jewel as the county’s representative to the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission.
• Commissioner Harold Elmore expressed his appreciation to the community for their support of his late sister, Glinda Elmore Beasley, who recently died from cancer.
• voted to surplus a 2004 Ford F150 with 230,000 miles, two office desks and a filing cabinet. Both the truck and the cabinet will be sold on govdeals.com.