Carbon County has secured nearly a half-million dollars for work on the proposed multipurpose fire training facility in Nesquehoning.

On Thursday, the commissioners adopted a resolution requesting a Multimodal Transportation Fund grant through the Commonwealth Financing Authority in the amount of $272,304, which will be used to widen and reconstruct Emergency Lane, the access road to the current Emergency Management Agency and proposed expansion project.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said the application is the remainder of the expected cost for the access road phase of the project. Carbon County recently learned that it was awarded $213,000 through the last MTF grant round, half of what they applied for.Earlier this month, the county also learned it was awarded $200,000 through the Monroe County Local Share Account grants program, bringing the total secured for the project to date to $413,000 out of the estimated $10 million project.Nothstein said the county is still pursuing a number of grant opportunities and still have a few applications, which total approximately $4.5 million, outstanding.The project has been moving through the proper channels between county agencies, the state and Nesquehoning over the last year, gaining conditional approvals; and permit requirements are being fulfilled.The proposed $10 million multi-use training facility will include a 29,045.50-square-foot emergency operations and training center building, two parking areas with 69 spaces, a 1,600-square-foot law enforcement training building, 400-square-foot observation tower, 1,820-square-foot firefighter's training building, 924-square-foot firefighter's training tower, a storage building, concrete burn pad for class A combustible materials (wood and straw materials) for fire training purposes and four concrete pads for other training or storage.Plans also include widening Emergency Lane from 11 feet to 22 feet to accommodate firetruck and larger emergency vehicle traffic; widening the roadway turning radius to Emergency Lane and relocating the existing access driveway to the water treatment building on the north side of the property.Nothstein said that the schedule still appears to be on time and the county anticipates putting the Phase 1 portion of the project, which is the access road widening and site preparation, out for bid in the spring of 2017.