This Funding Will Allow Nottoway County to Completely Replace Its Aging & Unreliable Public Safety Radio System with a Modern Digital Radio System to Improve Safety for Law Enforcement, Firefighters, EMS personnel, & Other First Responders

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden yesterday signed into law U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger’s legislation that will provide $1,000,000 to Nottoway County to replace its aging and unreliable public radio system.

The major funding for Nottoway County — which Spanberger successfully secured as part of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate-passed fiscal year (FY) 2023 end-of-year government funding package — will be used to implement a modern digital radio system, including mobile, portable, and base type radios in various stations and vehicles. Additionally, this investment will allow the county to determine effective locations for tower-mounted radio components to achieve the optimum radio coverage throughout Nottoway County and improve safety for law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and other first responders.

“This is wonderful news for all of Nottoway County,” said Lynn Shekleton, Chair, Nottoway County Board of Supervisors. “I want to recognize that today’s news would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of Rep. Spanberger, her staff, Nottoway County staff, and all the county’s first responder agencies. Thank you all so very much.”

“When working in high-risk environments daily, local law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and other public safety officials rely on radio systems to do their jobs. That’s why I have been proud to work directly with leaders in Nottoway County to secure funding for a new, digital radio system,” said Spanberger. “Nottoway’s first responders will no longer have to worry that their aging system will fail when they need it most. Thank you to the local officials who worked with my office to identify this need and get this project across the finish line — and I am proud to have delivered this investment for the community.”

BACKGROUND

For FY2023, the U.S. House of Representatives allowed Members of Congress to submit Community Project Funding requests — as it did in FY2022. This allowed for specific, community-driven requests — like a new modern digital radio system for Nottoway County. Spanberger worked directly with community leaders in all 10 counties of the Seventh District to gather community-focused requests for her submissions. Click here for the full list of her submissions.

The Community Project Funding process was created to ensure that Members of Congress, in concert with the communities they represent, may submit direct applications for federal funding to support locally planned projects as part of the yearly appropriations process.

To be eligible, projects must be sponsored by local or state government entities or non-profit organizations and must be projects that would otherwise meet the qualifications to apply for federal grant funding. The purpose of Community Project Funding is to ensure direct, local engagement as part of the federal appropriations process. In line with this goal, funding applications needed to demonstrate significant local support for the projects.

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