MONROE — The Green County Sheriff’s Department will soon be able to better respond to major incidents — now that it has received tentative approval to purchase a new mobile command post to replace its aging, 1990s-era model.
The Mobile Command Post, slated to cost about $166,000, is one of three initial projects targeted for money the county received from the American Rescue Plan Act, also known as ARPA. In total, the county was in line to get about $7.5 million from those federal, COVID-19 relief funds.
The new vehicle, according to Sheriff Jeff Skatrud, can be used by more than just the sheriff’s department. Among the other potential uses are for emergency management, other area law enforcement agencies, fire, EMS, public health, and public works.
“We’re excited that the ARPA Committee and the Green County Board has allowed us to search a mobile command post that should meet Green County’s needs for many years,” said Skatrud. “It’s a place where incident commanders can communicate our response to an emergency face to face with the most updated information available to them.”
The new vehicle will replace a 1993 model motor home conversion that has been used extensively over the decades.
“As hard as we have tried to maintain it mechanically, it continues to have problems and needs to be replaced,” said Skatrud. “That vehicle was purchased with 9/11 grant funding back in the mid 2000’s.”
In the past, the old vehicle has been seen at Cheese Days, Green County Fair, Covered Bridge Days in Brodhead; on SWAT calls, for training exercises; and even at a homicide scene, according to the sheriff. In fact, the post has responded 146 times since 2007, he added.
“It provides a space that those in charge of an incident can gather privately and out of the weather to analyze information and to make crucial decisions,” said Skatrud. “It is typically equipped with white boards, televisions and computers that allow those in charge to record and have access to data bases and other information.
In addition to the command post, the other projects identified for the federal money included spending nearly $400,000 to update the county’s aging IT infrastructure with software powered by Google Workspace. The biggest expenditure tentatively agreed upon by the committee was $2.7 million to fix the aging clock tower downtown on the courthouse square.
Helmed by county board chair Jerry Guth, the so-called ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Committee started meeting in late February to consider proposals from throughout the county. It was made up of a geographically diverse group of officials and citizens selected to weigh the many proposals from agencies across Green County.