ALPENA — The Alpena County Sheriff’s Office plans to be submit three grant renewal requests to the State of Michigan after the county board’s finance committee approved the submittal of the grant applications on Wednesday.

If approved, the state funding will help to cover the majority of the cost of a secondary road patrol deputy and 100 percent of the department’s snowmobile and off-road vehicle operations.

Undersheriff Terry King requested the committee allow him to seek a $43,350 grant for the secondary road deputy, with the condition the county agree to meet the required $33,734 match for 2019. He explained the duties of the deputy, which differs somewhat from others that are on patrol.

“They chase tail lights, patrol neighborhoods, enforce parking violations and basically work secondary roads,” King said. “They completely stay off the highway unless they are needed in a back-up situation.”

The total amount of $77,084 includes wages, benefits, uniform allowance, life insurance, equipment allowance and other costs to keep the deputy on the roads.

After the committee voted 4 to 0 to recommend to the full board of commissioners that the funding request be submitted, Sgt. J.P. Ritter requested permission to apply for the ORV and snowmobile funding grants through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Ritter said that, if the renewal request is approved by the state, the office would receive $15,046 in funding for the off-road vehicle program, with no match needed from the county. The snowmobile patrol grant could bring $9,762 to the office, with a $1,464 match by the county.

Ritter said patrols are needed as activity on state trails pick up. He said the off-road vehicles also help police and other first responders reach emergencies deep in the woods and overcome adverse weather conditions.

“If conditions on roads get too bad during snowstorms and plows can’t get down them, we use the snowmobiles to patrol them,” he said. “During the bad snowstorm in April, we used our side-by-side tracks we were able to get the ambulance crew and township fire to a gentleman that was having a heart issue. We were able to get him out and get him to the hospital. Without the ORV, it would have been almost impossible to get an automobile out there because of the snow depth.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.

In other business:

The Alpena County Board of Commissioners’ Finance Committee on Wednesday also:

∫ voted to approve spending $300 for cement work on the Long Lake dam and an additional $425 to replace one of the gates. The Long Lake Association will do the labor for both projects for free.

∫ approved spending $1,147 for three chairs for the county’s 911 dispatchers; the chairs will be purchased from Garant’s Office Supplies.

∫ approved a notice of intent with Northeast Michigan Council of Governments to have the county’s master plan updated. NEMGOC will also update the recreation plan for $6,800. The state requires municipalities to have the plans reworked every five years; if they aren’t, the county would not be eligible for Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant funding.