JOHN COFFELTEditor

Coffee County’s new grant writer Dave Capka has already gotten to work in the weeks since being hired in December finding new federal, state and private monies that have been previously left on the table.

“We’ve recognized the need for a grant writer in the middle of last year,” County Mayor Judd Matheny said. “The program has to be stood up from its infancy. There’s no software we can buy…that would build databases – build networks and connections.”

Counties comparable to here, Matheny discovered, were receiving public safety, transportation and environmental grants that serve some of the fiscal needs they have.

“The idea here is to have as little net increase to taxpayers as possible,” Matheny said.

Capka, a retired education grant writer from Arizona, plans to secure similar grants for the county and also build a database of departmental information that can be used for writing future grants.

“There’re tons of opportunities out there,” Capka said. “It’s just a matter of finding the needs of the different departments and getting the buy-in so we can apply for that money.”

Then he will look at what information the grant is asking for, then he will essentially fill out an application to show the need for that department.

He must be careful to describe how that department’s need is in line with what the goal of what grant hopes to achieve.

Those grants can amount to millions of dollars in matched and unmatched grants.

“Some do have grant matches, 10%, 20%, 30% depending on the grant itself. Some are 100% money coming into the county,” he said.

The once the grant is awarded, Capka will be responsible for documenting that the county is doing with the money what it said it would. That means a lot of red tape and paperwork, and even more if it’s a federal grant.

“Showing that you are doing what you said you were going to do is a big thing, keeping good records on how the money is being spent and that it’s being spent on what we requested that money for,” Capke said.

Some grants are broad in how the money can be spent while others are very limited.

“The big thing with grants is not every grant gives the same opportunities, whether it’s equipment, could be salaries for employees… some grants when I was researching for fire will not purchase vehicles, others will,” he said.

Matheny noted that grants will be sought only after coordinating with the various departments and with the approval of the County Commission.

“Everything will go through the proper channels – through a full commission meeting to approve any grant application and any matching funds,” he said. “We will be subject to all the regular audit trails and accountability as any other government entity.”

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.