The Shawano County Administrative Committee gave its approval Monday to seek Greenlight Grants to fund construction of an evidence storage facility.
County officials were heartened by a conference call with Greenlight representatives Friday.
Although it had previously been suggested that the county could obtain grant funding through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, it now appears that getting foundation grants might be the best way to go, according to Administrative Coordinator Tom Madsen.
Madsen pointed out that government grants usually require a match from the county. With foundation grants from corporations, it might not cost the county anything to build the facility, although the grantors might require more intensive reporting on where each dollar goes, Madsen said.
“That’s one of the reasons we thought about going this direction,” he said. “Government grants hamstring you. I’ve written my share. You’ve got to have something in kind or a match, or you have to continue the grant after the funding runs out.”
The county has been looking at tapping Greenlight Grants to seek funding for a variety of projects, and with the County Board at an impasse on how to fund the evidence building, that project is seen as a priority.
“We’re hoping there’s something out there,” Madsen said. “We have debated this to death and looked at different funding. We’ve never looked at foundation grants.”
Although the idea gained unanimous support from the committee, some questioned why Madsen was asking for permission instead of taking the idea and running with it.
“I don’t want them to stop at evidence,” Supervisor Kathy Luebke said. “I want them to look at radios and everything.”
Supervisor Gene Hoppe defended the decision to bring it before the committee, saying he wanted it documented that the county was looking into this. The county is only required to pay Greenlight a service fee if a grant is obtained.
“If they don’t get us anything, we pay zero,” Hoppe said.
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