By Thomas J. Prohaska
Buffalo News

LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Niagara County is about to allocate $200,000 for another year of civilian emergency training conducted by a program based at Niagara University.

A County Legislature committee approved the contract with Border Community Service earlier this month, and if it clears the Administration Committee Tuesday, the full Legislature will vote July 22.

The county kept the program running after its original funding expired.

Niagra county has made federal aid for citizen preparedness training a priority. (AP Photo/ Jose F. Moreno)

Border Community Service received $373,000 from the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2004. Executive Director Nancy Brennan Blundell said that was supposed to last two years, but she stretched it for an extra nine months until it ran out in 2007.

That's when County Manager Gregory D. Lewis asked the Legislature to allocate $200,000 from the county's own federal homeland security aid to keep the training program running.

Lewis said, "Not only is it the right thing to do, it's required of us." He meant that terms of the federal aid call for citizen preparedness training as one of the uses of the money.

This year's allocation also would come from the county's grant under the federal Urban Area Security Initiative.

Legislator Peter E. Smolinski, R-North Tonawanda, chairman of the Community Safety and Security Committee, said 35 North Tonawanda residents were enrolled this year in a citizen emergency preparedness course through Border Community Service.

"We're hoping these people aren't already in the [emergency] services. We want average outside citizens coming into this program so they learn what to do," Smolinski said.

Lewis said he'd like to see as many people trained to help in an emergency as possible, so if a disaster does strike Niagara County, people won't be "bombarding the communications center [with questions]."

Blundell said there are three Community Emergency Response Teams in the county: Greater North Tonawanda, Greater Niagara Falls and Central Niagara County. They total 280 to 300 trained volunteers who passed the 30-hour training course.

She said Michael Torrie, the former chief of Lewiston No. 1 Fire Company, was chosen as the project coordinator for Niagara County training.

Blundell said the North Tonawanda course was followed by a course in Cambria, and others are coming up in Lockport, Newfane, Niagara Falls and Lewiston.

"Most of our training revolves around FEMA's Ready America program," Blundell said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

Also, the local program aims to reach out to "high-risk populations," Blundell said, involving people who aren't likely to be in community groups like parent-teacher associations and fire companies. It will work with the Niagara County Health Department's Healthy Neighborhoods Program, which works in poor areas to improve health conditions.

Copyright 2008 The Buffalo News