Putnam County received a major federal grant of more than $822,000 to install emergency generators at key county facilities.
County Mayor Randy Porter said FEMA will allow the county to purchase backup generators for ten different facilities, including community centers, libraries, and government buildings. Porter said the county originally applied for the funding several years ago following the 2020 tornado and multiple ice storms.
“It’s going to allow us to cover a lot of the facilities that we have in Putnam County that we would need to keep operational or use as a shelter or whatever in case we had, you know, another ice storm or disaster where we lost power,” Porter said.
Porter said the county will only be responsible for a five percent grant match. He said that without the grant, the county would have likely had to fund the project gradually over several years.
“I mean, we would probably have had to piecemeal it and done one facility at a time over a period of several years, and we were looking at doing that, but by getting this grant, it saves all those taxpayer dollars to be used inside the county for other needs.”
Facilities set to receive backup generators include Algood City Hall, Algood Community Center, Boma Community Center, Cookeville Community Center, Monterey Community Center, Putnam County Courthouse, Putnam County Fire Station #23 (Monterey), Putnam County Library, Putnam County Schools Central Office, and Putnam County Schools Technology Building.
The push for expanded emergency power comes as Putnam County continues to grow, increasing the need for reliable infrastructure during disasters. Porter said ensuring access to powered facilities across the county is a key part of long-term planning.
“The more people we have, the more we have to look at having facilities to cover and so that’s part of our plan going forward we have a big disaster plan that has been worked on for years and updated yearly and part of that is make sure we have enough facilities to cover citizens of Putnam County should something major happen,” Porter said. “Once we get the new Expo Center built, we have already got the new Convention Center and then all these other facilities built, we would be able to house thousands of people should it come down to that, and that’s the goal, to keep working towards all of our facilities being covered.”
Porter said these sites are expected to serve multiple roles during emergencies, such as shelters, resource hubs, and operational centers for local government.