Gogebic County seeks funding for EMT training

By ZACHARY MARANO

zmarano@yourdailyglobe.com

Bessemer — Gogebic County Board of Commissioners Chair Jim Lorenson is working with Emergency Management and 911 Coordinator Heidi DeRosso to secure grant funding from the state for first responder training.

At the board’s meeting on Wednesday, Lorenson said there are two requirements for the grant: one is that the governmental units have a per capita taxable value of under $15,000, the other is that the training be completed by the end of the fiscal year.

Lorenson said it would be wonderful if state money could fully cover the cost of recruiting and training. However, he said that none of the county’s governmental units he contacted so far meet the first condition. He said he’s still waiting to hear from two units.

He also said that they are communicating with Gogebic Community College to see if they can provide the training and complete it within the allotted time.

Alternately, Lorenson said there are some funds available through Michigan Works that they could use for the training. He said that he will have more information about this for the next meeting on Feb. 9.

Board member Joe Bonovetz said he recently read an article about how two-thirds of publicly owned ambulance services in the United States are underwater. He said other services are also struggling to train EMTs and the problem is coming to the surface more and more.

Bonovetz also said he attended a broadband meeting on Tuesday where he learned that satellite network Starlink’s bid for part of Gogebic County has not been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. He said that U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, and Michigan’s two senators are trying to have the FCC release those places so other companies can bid for them.

According to Bonovetz, Atlantic Engineering Group is interested in acquiring the rights to that part of Gogebic County so it could deploy a broadband network in the entire county.

At its next meeting, the board will consider its authority to hire a replacement for the Gogebic County Fair Board secretary. Lorenson said the previous secretary, Terrtu Anderson, has resigned.