Effingham County Sheriff’s deputies will be armed with tasers, after county commissioners approved a grant for the ECSO.
The grant, for $40,800, also will provide for taser cameras for school resource officers. It also will fully equip ECSO patrol cars with in-car computers and accessories, in particular cooling fans needed to keep the computers from overheating.
“I need the cooling fans,” Sgt. Ed Myrick, the ECSO training officer, said.
An earlier grant allowed the ECSO to obtain in-car computers and stands, but the cooling fans also are needed.
“There’s not a problem with those computers,” Myrick said. “But if I take those computers and put them in the cars, they’ll burn up.”
Myrick also serves as the taser instruction officer for the ECSO. Each officer armed with a taser is expected to go through the training, including getting “a five-second ride,” Myrick said.
“All of my guys are required to be certified,” he said. “When you’re hit with a taser, it lasts for five seconds. And every one is expected to take that ride.”
The ECSO applied through the state for grant money from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The money is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grant will work in conjunction with other grants the sheriff’s office has received previously.
The ECSO will spend the $40,800 and will be reimbursed for its costs.
“The grant is complete,” Myrick said. “The money is going to be spent.”
County finance director Joanna Wright said that because the grant stems from federal stimulus funds, the reporting requirements are “hefty.”
There are almost 86 questions to go with the grant.
Commissioners also approved, by a 4-2 vote, a contract with Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung for phase I of the park promenade design. Phase I is the area around the courthouse.
The Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung pact also includes work with a citizens’ liaison group over the plans and a survey of the entire site. The entire park promenade will extend from the historic courthouse to Madison Street and will be bordered by Oak and Pine streets.
The contract is for $50,750 and includes design for drainage, paving and parking, along with landscape and irrigation design.
“We originally discussed this project when we talked about landscaping design for the historic courthouse, and we wanted to maximize parking for that building,” county project manager Adam Kobek said.
Since the renovation for the historic courthouse is scheduled to be finished in October, Kobek said they want to get phase I of the park promenade done as quickly as possible. Springfield has chosen its representatives for the liaison group. Phase 2 would be from Monument Park to Madison Street.
“We will call a meeting of the citizens’ liaison group as soon as possible so they can have preliminary meetings before they get the survey information so they can hit the ground running with the engineers,” Kobek said.
Springfield will assist with the survey cost, estimated to be $13,500, according to Kobek.
Total planning and engineering costs will be about $80,000, and the entire project, including construction and moving utilities lines, will be around $1 million.
“Do we have any money to do any of this stuff,” said Commissioner Reggie Loper, who along with Jeff Utley voted against the contract proposal.
There is special local option sales tax money available, Kobek said, and potential future SPLOST receipts also could be used.
Commissioners also approved an agreement to house as many as 250 inmates at the Effingham County Prison. Nearly 200 inmates are involved in different public service works projects outside the prison walls. Currently, 62 inmates do not leave the prison.
