EATON —According to EMA Director David Anderson, the YMCA is officially a Red Cross Emergency Shelter. In case of a disaster event in Preble County, the Red Cross could set up operations in the Preble County YMCA. Anderson shared this information during his monthly report to Preble County Commissioners on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

Anderson added, this is something which has been in the works for years, but only recently became official.

“The problem is, nobody knew what generators, what kind of generators, or how they’re hooked up that we needed. I have availability to some generators through the State EOC. The problem is, they’re going to what to know how big a generator is it and how do you hook it up,” Anderson said.

He added, he reached out for information and is waiting for it to come back to him. After he receives that information, they should be in “good shape” and be able to utilize the YMCA if a disaster event ever did happen.

According to Anderson, during recent training exercises they found out there is some equipment not working properly at the EMA. This equipment will be replaced and an amplifier will be added. This is roughly $7,000 worth of work which will need to be completed to update the EMA. This will allow for seamless communication within and beyond the County.

Anderson does have the money to pay for this work, but some of the required equipment is on the Authorized Equipment List. Anderson explained he can use his EMPG money to help pay for half of the cost. This does not guarantee the reimbursement will be approved.

He asked commissioners for permission to move forward and seek additional information. This process will have to be completed by June 30, the end of the EMPG. He added, he has been told that “EMPG might go down,” which is why he wants to use this money while he has it, instead of waiting for a future fiscal year.

He reiterated, he has “more than enough” money in the department’s funds to cover this expenditure, but would like to use the EMPG money he has.