News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
New emergency service equipment coming to Pickett County through a new $357,000 grant approved by the Pickett County Commission.
The grant can be used for items such as CPR machines and heart monitors. Community Consultant Amanda Mainord said the grant was not easy to come by.
“It allows us to purchase from the state contract,” Mainord said. “It kind of cuts out our bidding process. So, we kind of get a better deal on what we do purchase. We have to have this resolution for the State of Tennessee Economic and Community Development to allow us to purchase from this state list.”
County Executive Stephen Bilbrey said he worked with the the county’s emergency services to see what they needed.
“We tried to go through before we sent in asking for money,” Bilbrey said. “We kind of got what they thought they might want and tried to go with the highest priced ones. We applied for what we thought they wanted at the highest price to help make sure they got what they wanted.”
Bilbrey said they expected to hear back from the grant in October. He said the wait was nerve wracking. He said getting the news the county got the grant was a surprise.
“I want to say congratulations, because that’s a huge success,” Mainord said. “These grants are more competitive each and every day, so congratulations first of all. We were very excited when we got that call last week, so very good news.”
Mainord said the commission had to vote to allow purchases from Savvik Buying Group. The commission approved the resolution unanimously.
