Credit: The Frederick News Post

Frederick County is expected to use more than $1.8 million in federal funding for equipment for its emergency operations center and a crisis stabilization center, and for the next few phase of the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Trail, according to a press release Monday. The funding is part of the omnibus spending bill for the federal Fiscal Year 2023 that President Joe Biden signed in December. “I am incredibly grateful for the support of Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, and Congressmen David Trone and Jamie Raskin to help us secure this much-needed funding,” County Executive Jessica Fitzwater, D, said in the press release. About $870,000 will go toward technology and equipment for the county’s emergency operations center, which functions as a command center during large-scale emergencies. The emergency operations center is in what used to be a training classroom, which isn’t large enough to accommodate the personnel needed for the county to manage large-scale emergencies, the release states. Nearly $700,000 will pay for equipment for the Frederick County Health Department’s crisis stabilization center. The county expects the center will be built over the next year at 340 Montevue Lane in Frederick, which currently houses the county’s Board of Elections. The center, which is expected to open in the summer of 2023, will provide care to people experiencing a behavioral health emergency, including substance use disorders and mental health illnesses. The center will be an alternative to the emergency department for people experiencing a behavioral health emergency, and its staff will connect patients to additional care options in the community. The county hopes the center will lower health care costs for patients and reduce the burden on first responders and the emergency department at Frederick Health Hospital. The county also plans to allocate $280,000 for the engineering and design portion of the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Trail. When it’s completed, the trail will connect Frederick and Walkersville for walkers and bicyclists to travel between the municipalities.