Lincoln County supervisors Monday appointed Emergency ManagementDirector Clifford Galey to oversee a federal and state program toprovide storm shelters to residents.

A meeting has been set for all county residents interested inthe “Safe Rooms” program for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lincoln CountyMulti-Use Facility. An outline of the program and application formswill be available at the meeting.

The program requires a grant administrator, Galey said. He wasasking the board to appoint someone – preferably a supervisor -tooversee the grant.

Grant applications require an inspection of the proposed saferoom or site, an estimate of the cost of construction and periodicinspections until the project is complete.

District One Supervisor the Rev. Jerry Wilson suggested the jobbe appointed to someone other than Galey.

“That’s just more on his plate. Something’s going to be lackingsomewhere. I’m not saying he can’t do the job, but he already has alot,” Wilson said of Galey’s duties.

The county’s emergency management director also leads the civildefense and serves as the county fire coordinator, among otherfunctions.

When supervisors asked how much work it would be, Galey said “itall depends on how many people actually apply and how much (infunding) the county gets.” More than 200 county residents haveexpressed interest in the program.

The state has been awarded $6.6 million for the program, whichwill reimburse up to 75 percent of eligible costs to propertyowners for the construction of safe rooms or storm shelters toprotect against the dangers posed by high winds. The maximumfederal share awarded to any eligible participant in the program is$3,500 for residential structures and $5,000 for communityshelters.

How much Lincoln County gets for the program will depend on howmany people apply statewide, Galey said.

The board unanimously placed Galey in charge of the program, butforbade him from using overtime or compensation time to do thework.

“They’ll just have to understand you can only do so much ineight hours,” said Board President Gary Walker.