Seven government agencies in the Barren River region have received Department of Homeland Security grants to improve law enforcement, fire and emergency services.

The largest grant in the region is $88,500 for Allen County Fiscal Court.

Randy Stovall, communications coordinator for the Scottsville-Allen County 911 Center, said the funds will be used to modify the system emergency responders use in Allen County, which has provided spotty coverage since its conversion from analog to digital roughly four years ago.

“There’s a real concern for our responders’ safety because we need to be able to reach them at all times,” he said.

Stovall is unsure why coverage is spotty, but he said he suspects parts of the county’s topography might be blocking signals.

“I do think part of our issues have to do with terrain,” he said.

The county will form a committee of representatives of the Allen County Sheriff’s Office, the Scottsville Police Department, the Allen County Ambulance Service, the Scottsville Fire Department and the 911 center to determine the problem’s cause. The grant money is set aside to cover the cost of whatever repairs or upgrades are necessary, Stovall said.

Warren County Fiscal Court received $5,600 that will fund sonar equipment and radios for the Warren County Technical Rescue Team, according to Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson.

Currently, the team has one sonar device, which Pearson described as like “an enhanced fish locator” that the team uses to quickly find people or items it needs to recover.

The sonar is a valuable tool because the water in the area is dark, making it difficult for divers to find bodies in the water, Pearson said.

“The visibility (a diver) can see is sometimes no more than 6 inches,” he said.

The city of Bowling Green received $15,600 for personal protection equipment. Nick Cook, the city’s grant writer, did not immediately return calls from the Daily News.

Barren County Fiscal Court, according to Homeland Security data, was the only local government agency to receive two grants.

Gary Chenoweth, who coordinates the Barren County Search and Rescue Squad, said one of the grants, for $36,100, is not enough to cover the entire cost of the Dive 1 boat system he was hoping it would fund. A Dive 1 boat system consists of an aluminum boat, an inflatable boat and a trailer to transport them. It costs about $70,000, he said.

The system puts two boats together so they can both be hauled at once and would be a more efficient way to move the boats around, Chenoweth said.

“This boat will help us immensely with getting our dive team in place,” he said.

Without the funding to purchase the entire system, the Barren County squad will instead purchase as much of the system as it can in hopes of buying the remainder at a later date, Chenoweth said.

“We’re going to buy parts of the system that we can afford,” he said, adding that he expects to be able to purchase both boats with the Homeland Security funding.

The other grant Barren County Fiscal Court received was for $25,300 and is earmarked for improvements to the radio system the county’s volunteer fire departments uses, according to Mike Braun, assistant chief at Austin Tracy Volunteer Fire Department. Originally, the county requested roughly $80,000 for radio improvements, he said.

Next week, the Barren County Fire Chiefs Association, which Braun is president of, will meet to figure out what equipment it needs to get with the money that’s been provided, he said.

A Department of Homeland Security news release said 114 grants totaling nearly $3 million were spread across 77 Kentucky counties.

The other government agencies receiving grant funding are the city of Glasgow with $22,200; the Edmonson County Ambulance Service with $32,000; and Edmonson County Fiscal Court with $22,800, according to Homeland Security data.