WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development awarded $66,800 in federal funds to the towns of Pennington Gap and Quantico. The funds will be used to purchase new police vehicles and related equipment, including officer safety equipment and emergency response lighting.

“We are pleased this federal funding will allow these Virginia communities to update their safety vehicles and help improve public safety,” said the Senators.

The following localities will receive funding:

• The Town of Pennington Gap will receive $50,000 to purchase two new, properly equipped police patrol vehicles to replace older, high-mileage vehicles. One of the current vehicles is no longer considered a safe and reliable vehicle. The second vehicle was recently totaled in an accident, but the insurance payment was not sufficient to replace it due to age and condition. These improvements have a total cost of $71,500, with $21,500 provided by the town through a USDA loan and the rest funded by USDA through this grant.
• The Town of Quantico will receive $16,800 to purchase a new police vehicle and related equipment, including officer safety equipment and emergency response lighting. The Town of Quantico needs to purchase a new police vehicle to replace an existing 2005 Ford Crown Victoria Police sedan, which is 13 years old with high mileage. The existing vehicle requires a significant yearly expense for maintenance and is well beyond industry standard service life for an emergency response vehicle. These improvements have a total cost of $30,648, with $13,848 provided by the town and the rest funded by USDA through this grant.

The USDA’s Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. Funding awarded through this program seeks to purchase, construct, and/or improve community facilities that are used for health care, public safety, community support, and public service.

###