County seeks federal grant for emergency operations center

The Sedgwick County Commission is ready to approve a grant application for federal funds for the Defense Community Infrastructure Program. Commission Chair Ryan Baty tells KNSS News it's a $9.8 million grant to build an emergency operations center. The county has applied for the grant twice before. Baty says it is a state-mandated facility to be used for storage, mass vaccinations, and other purposes. The County has already purchased the land near Meridian and MacArthur, close to the site for the new psychiatric hospital.

The Sedgwick County Commission is in the middle of its annual budget-writing process. Baty tells KNSS News the county is looking at a five million-dollar budget shortfall in 2026, but he "feels pretty good about where we're at." He says the county has a AAA bond rating. Only 106 counties across the nation have a AAA bond rating.

Ryan Baty commented during his weekly chat with Steve and Ted in the Morning on KNSS.