Codington County Approves New Emergency Management Pickup With $50,000 Budget; Monthly Report: Grants, Training, and Command Post Trailer
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Codington County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved purchasing a new half-ton pickup for Codington County Emergency Management and heard a monthly update on emergency grants and multi-agency training at its regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026.
Codington County Emergency Management Director Andrew Delgado requested authorization to replace the department’s 10-year-old vehicle, for which the county budget allocated $50,000. Under the department’s vehicle rotation plan, the department will transfer the outgoing three-quarter-ton pickup to the Codington County Sheriff’s Office.
"So the existing vehicle is about 10 years old," Delgado told the commissioners. "And I guess just looking to update, we have a plan for, I mean, transferring it to the sheriff's office. I mean, we've kind of discussed that with them. And yeah, just looking for approval to get a new vehicle we've budgeted for up to $50,000. And I guess that's what I would request we are able to use."
Commissioner Tyler McElhany moved to approve the purchase, and Vice Chairman Randy Schweer seconded. When asked during the discussion whether he had received a quote for the replacement, Delgado noted that a local dealership—Sharp Automotive—could meet the $49,999 budget cap.
"We do have at least one local dealer was able to meet that price," Delgado said. "Got $49,999."
"One dollar shy of his $50,000 budget," Chairman Troy VanDusen remarked.
Delgado added that Emergency Management is downsizing from a three-quarter-ton truck to a half-ton pickup because the county’s search and rescue fleet already handles heavy towing duties.
"We are planning to downsize to a half-ton as opposed to the three-quarter-ton just because we have, you know, capabilities with the search and rescue rigs to be able to do the heavy pulling," Delgado said.
The board voted unanimously to approve the vehicle purchase.
Emergency Management Monthly Report: Grants, Training and Command Post Trailer
Before the vehicle vote, Delgado presented his monthly report on grant filings, hospital and incident command exercises, and joint water rescue training.
Delgado reported that his office closed out the current year’s Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grant and submitted the application for next year’s cycle. In addition, the office submitted documentation for the Local Emergency Management Performance Grant (LEMPG) and received notice that reimbursement should arrive soon.
On the training front, Delgado highlighted strong attendance at a recent hospital tabletop exercise and an Incident Command System (ICS) 300 course. He also noted that Search and Rescue members assisted Watertown Fire Rescue with training on newly acquired water rescue equipment.
"We had joint training, DJ and Nate from Search and Rescue helped me do a little bit of training for the Watertown Fire Rescue for some of the newer, like they have some water rescue equipment that they acquired just because they're, I mean, they're always there, they're going to be the first on scene," Delgado said. "Based on, you know, some past incidents, they just want to know that they have the equipment and training to be able to provide an immediate response. So we helped to facilitate that."
Delgado concluded his report by noting that partner agencies are reviewing the build sheets for the new multi-agency command post trailer before giving final approval to begin construction.
"The command post trailer build sheets, we have those and we are reviewing them," Delgado said. "All of the agencies involved with that trailer are just making sure that everything looks good before we tell them go."
