News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Fentress County is allocating $100,000 of ARP funds to purchase an ambulance.
County Executive Jimmy Johnson said the funds set aside for a pee-wee football field project were moved as they need to spend the money before the end of December. Johnson said the county needs a few ambulances. Johnson said the county went ahead and purchased the ambulance as it has been a lengthy process to receive an ambulance ever since the COVID pandemic.
“It’s just hard to get emergency equipment especially right now on ambulance and fire trucks both are anywhere from 18 months to two years or 24 months away at a minimum,” Johnson said. “They are just hard to come by and you can have one ordered and it might take you a year or year and a half to get one.”
Johnson said the county has already ordered a few ambulances and expects to receive them within the coming months. Johnson said the county will move $100,000 from the general fund to replace the money moved from the pee-wee football field project.
“We will just use that money for the ambulance and then we will take the money that was going to be used for the ambulance and put it back into the football field,” Johnson said. “It won’t rush them real hard and fast to have to have it spent before the first of the year this way.”
Johnson said the move would not interfere with the pee-wee football project. Johnson said new the football field will address practice schedule issues.
“We use the high school and a lot of times it will interchange and the high school has been really great to work with as far as using it,” Johnson said. “But sometimes you know you need to practice all at the same time. Sometimes it gets to be not a problem but it gets to be kind of in each other’s way.”
Johnson said the football field project is three-fourths done. Johnson said he expects the field project to be completed by the start of next year’s football season.
