Mayor Kim McMillan welcomes Federal support for Homeland Security Watercrafts

Clarksville, TN – Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan welcomed news that the City of Clarksville can proceed with the procurement of two watercrafts after receiving more than $300,000 in grant funding from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Port Security Grant Program.

The City of Clarksville is one of Tennessee’s 11 Homeland Security Districts to be awarded federal funding from the Homeland Security Grant Funds.

The funding will be used to purchase a fire patrol boat and police patrol boat, which will be stationed at the Liberty Park Marina, as well as training for boat crews. Both watercrafts will be equipped with a full complement of blue lights, sirens, navigational and communications equipment, as well as high-tech equipment allowing for day and night operations, underwater searches, and boating accident victim recovery and transport.

While the primary purpose of these watercrafts is for homeland security, they may and will also be used for inland waterway enforcement, response and recovery, shoreline fire suppression and hazmat containment. An agreement with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA), will allow officers assigned to the unit, the authority to enforce boating safety laws similar to those exercised by the TWRA on the water adjoining the city boundaries.

Should the need arise, the watercraft may be directed by the Coast Guard to incidents at other locations on the Cumberland River between Nashville and Land Between the Lakes.

Now that funding has been announced, the two department’s next step will be to draft a request for proposals and select a bidder. “It will probably take nine to ten months minimum to get them,” said Ron McClurg, City of Clarksville Grant Manager, “most of the time boats of this size are not built until an order is placed.”

For more details, please contact the City of Clarksville at 931.645.7444 or visit www.cityofclarksville.com .