County hopeful Homeland Security funds will be released

At the Big Horn County Commissioner meeting on July 1, Emergency Management Coordinator LaRae Dobbs gave a department update. 

She discussed a letter from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security’s Lynn Budd to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 

Dobbs explained the letter asked Noem to release grants funds. The grants have already been approved by congress and President Trump. The funds were held back while DOGE was reviewing government spending. Statutorily, the funds were supposed to be released 40 days after approval.  

There is a recommendation of a $646 million in FEMA funds.

Dobbs also discussed recommendations from a courthouse security report. One recommendation was there should be an emergency response guide in each office of the courthouse. The county’s Emergency Operations Plan (E.O.P.) now includes a response guide as recommended.  One portion directs staff on what they need to do should they have a belligerent customer, fire in building, shooter in the building, etc. 

The state has recommended an Active Shooter Training for the courthouse. A couple of Big Horn County Sheriff School Resources Officers are available to teach a four-hour course. 

Dobbs believes after the training there should be a drill at the courthouse to put training into practice. The commission gave her the thumbs up to move forward. 

She has also been working on a volunteer management system for this region. All the emergency management coordinators and public health response coordinators for the Bighorn Basin met. 

No one had a very strong volunteer management plan. She brought to the meeting some options. The options were gone through, and Dobbs is working on a plan that meets the needs locally. 

She is working on a shelter plan. Multiple counties have requested a copy for a template. The county will host a rural domestic preparedness consortium course for law enforcement on August 6. In addition to law enforcement, it is recommended for elected officials. 

Two pipeline training and liaison meetings were done. 

AIRPORTS/LAND PLANNING 

Airport manager Paul Thur noted that the county Planning & Zoning Committee approved three subdivisions. He and Stephanie May presented the subdivisions to the commissioners for their approval. Those subdivisions were for a replat of Konger Farms, Unruh and Black Hills. 

The commission approved the notice of award for the U68 Runway Rehab Project. The fuel sales for both the airports are likely to by 80% of sales from last year. This is the lowest in five years. 

OTHER BUSINESS

• Dispatch agreements for Manderson, Cowley and Basin were signed. 

• Fair Manager, Catherine Foss, provided bids for the County’s Mechanical Bull. The commission will review the bids. 

• The State Firearm Policy was reviewed. It will be discussed at length at a future commissioner meeting. 

• The county Prevention Coordinator Travis Sylvester appeared via zoom to give an update.