Urban Area Security Initiative Grant

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and numbers may be misheard.

What: The federal Urban Area Security Initiative grant, administered by FEMA, funds joint public safety projects for the Baltimore region (Baltimore City, Annapolis and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties). Annapolis has received about 5.9 million dollars since 2016.
Where it stands (2026-10-21): Briefing only, no vote. Ten FY25 projects totaling about 899,000 dollars were presented to the Public Safety Committee, at no added cost to the city. Spending was authorized October 1; purchases and reimbursements are due by June 2028.
Next: Staff are collecting quotes; members asked for the slides and quantities per item.

Emergency Management: 299,000 dollars for contractors to update the emergency operations plan (about 98,000 for the plan, about 20,000 for a tabletop exercise; last updated 2020, new plan hoped for spring 2027) and possibly the continuity of operations plan, plus a 65,000 logistics pickup truck.
Fire: sustainment of the shared mobile command unit (40,000), hazmat unit (21,000) and technical rescue unit (10,000); a 235,000 bomb squad robot replacing a roughly 17-year-old unit; 60,000 bomb squad sustainment.
Police: about 5,000 for K9 support shared with fire; 64,000 for first-aid and protective supplies carried in patrol cars; 100,000 for deployable vehicle barriers on a trailer (eight at first, 8 to 10 more planned from the next award, usable with regional partners' barriers and as gates for vendor or fire access).

The award arrived about a year late because of litigation between the state and federal government over grant requirements.
A member noted any city logo on the barriers should wait until the city's branding work concludes after November (see City of Annapolis Branding and Logo).
The committee chair said this overview answered questions raised when the related appropriations came to the Finance Committee (see SA-5-27 Assistance to Firefighters Grant).

About 27 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-21 - Public Safety Committee	27

2026-10-21 - Public Safety Committee - Emergency management, fire and police staff briefed the committee on the ten FY25 projects (11:21-38:18); timeline, quantities and barrier deployment discussed; no vote.