Putnam County awarded an estimated $349,000 Community Development Block Grant to purchase a new ambulance and heart monitor for the Monterey Substation.
Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said the county has used recent CBDG grant money to improve fire stations across the county. He said he wanted to focus on the EMS service this year.
“In the eastern end of the county, there is a lot of rural area up there,” Porter said. “And having another ambulance up there to be able to be there and have a backup will be a big part of making sure we provide good services in that area.”
Porter said the county has had to purchase more ambulances over the past few years to meet the county’s continuous growth. Porter said he is grateful for the grant, as the county will not have to use local tax dollars to purchase the ambulance.
“Anytime that we can get these grants and not have to use tax dollars, it’s good for the citizens of the county,” Porter said. “Those ambulances have gotten really expensive over the last few years. Normal ambulance we used to buy was about $150,000, and now they are about $300,000. And so they have doubled in price just over the last few years, and so having this grant to be able to purchase that new ambulance saves a lot of those taxpayer dollars.”
Porter said due to a backlog, the county will likely not receive the ambulance until the end of 2026 or early 2027.
The CDBG Grant is awarded by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. An estimated $26.5 million was awarded to 44 different communities this year.