Montcalm County gets homeland security snow cone machine
Montcalm County is now in possession of a $900 Arctic Blast Sno-Cone machine, thanks to a grant from the Michigan Homeland Security Program. — Daily News/Elisabeth Waldon
STANTON — The United States is fighting terrorism — one snow cone at a time.
Montcalm County recently received a $900 Arctic Blast Sno-Cone machine.
The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC) is a federal- and state-designated agency responsible for managing and administrating the homeland security program in Montcalm County and 12 other counties.
The WMSRDC recently purchased and transferred homeland security equipment to these counties — including 13 snow cone machines at a total cost of $11,700.
The machines were funded by a grant from the Michigan Homeland Security Program. The request for a snow cone machine came from another county, but all 13 counties received them.
The purchase raised some questions at a recent Montcalm County Board of Commissioners meeting. Commissioners wondered about the machine and questioned its purpose.
The Michigan Homeland Security Grant Program’s Allowable Cost Justification document, dated May 9, 2011, says the snow cone machines can make ice to prevent heat-related illnesses during emergencies, treat injuries and provide snow cones as an outreach at promotional events.
WMSRDC Executive Director Sandeep Dey said one county requested a popcorn machine, but that request was denied. He said the snow cone machine request would not have been granted by itself, but was approved because it came with other homeland security equipment.
“It is used to attract people so they can be educated and prepared for homeland security,” Dey said from his office in Muskegon. “More importantly, they (homeland security officials) felt in a medical emergency the machine was capable of making ice packs which could be used for medical purposes.”
The snow cone machine is currently being stored in the Montcalm County Emergency Services (MCES) building in Stanton. MCES Director David Feldpausch said the machine could be useful at the scene of a large fire or during very hot weather.
“I don’t like the term snow cone machine, because it sounds horrible,” Feldpausch said. “When you look at it as an ice shaving machine and its purpose, it makes a little more sense. I assume it will get used in Montcalm County a lot more in the summertime by the Fire Corps.”
Elisabeth Waldon
Elisabeth Waldon is news editor of The Daily News, where she began as an intern in 2001. Her beat includes courts/cops/crime and Montcalm County government. She is also editor of The Carson City Gazette. She loves investigative reporting, telling small-town stories, frequenting music halls, experimenting with photography and being a wife and mother in the "Panhandle" of Montcalm County.Elisabeth Waldon has written 556 articles.
A waste of tax dollars. You should ask the Greenville housing commission about the new SUV they bought with tax dollars to drive to training classes twice a year.
Unbelievable. Thanks for reporting this kind of wasteful spending.
Interesting… you can get pretty much the exact same machine on Amazon for $366 with free shipping (http://www.amazon.com/Paragon-Arctic-Blast-SnoCone-Machine/dp/B000FMI9T2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323189517&sr=8-1). $900 each? Hope they didn’t forget the $1200 toilet seats!
Oops, $399: http://www.amazon.com/Great-Northern-Machine-SnoCones-Slushies/dp/B002Z9J488/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1323204779&sr=8-7
Either way, a disgusting waste of OUR money. Thanks Nobama!
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now it’s a lightning deal on amazon (for the next 2 hours) for $300 shipped!
Disgusting amounts of wasteful spending.
This is what you get for keeping the machine alive.
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Dear Elisabeth Waldon,
Would you please answer a question? You quote people as saying that this machine makes ice, but the machine in the photo is clearly just a grinder. Would you please clear this up? It might make a difference between something useful and a grinding waste of money.
That is a snow cone machine. Friends of mine have one like that and use it during their 4th of July party.
Alice: It’s an Arctic Blast Sno-Cone machine. As you can see from the photo, it’s designed specifically for making snow cones. Homeland security officials say the machine can be used for making snow cones to attract people to homeland security displays, as well as making ice for injuries. Time will tell how useful the machine proves to be …
The point Alice was trying to make is that this machine does not make ice at all! It is only capable of grinding ice into snow so the justification document itself is a fraud.
(The Michigan Homeland Security Grant Program’s Allowable Cost Justification document, dated May 9, 2011, says the snow cone machines can make ice to prevent heat-related illnesses during emergencies.)
Also, this exact same machine is available on Amazon for under $600.00 delivered! That means for 11 of them there is almost $4,000 that was overpaid or given to someone for a payoff!
I think there is a lot more to this story than just the fact that they shouldn’t be purchasing them in the first place.
Oops, went back and checked my figures. Make that 13 machines for $11,700. Actual cost on Amazon is $521.00 delivered so the overpayment is exactly $4927.00!
OUR MONEY from the federal government is like crack cocaine to local politicians. This story is a good example of why this type of grant has to stop. Our country is bankrupt. This community is bankrupt according to the story right below this one. Yet they are buying a useless piece of equipment they do not need. Anyone who has anything to do with this should be fired. What are wrong with these people? Are they brain dead? Until we make politicians accountable for this kind of idiotic behavior we will never solve our public financial problems.
A minute Google search will answer this. If the machine is indeed the one in the photo is is a snow cone maker. It grinds the ice … IT DOES NOT MAKE THE ICE. You have to supply the ice from another source.
Yeah, lets take the word of Homeland Security for what it does instead of actually doing our job and researching the details. Either the photo is wrong unit or the description is wrong.
Ask any paramedic what they think of their ‘medical’ justification for purchase. I’m curious if this was the Citizen Corps portion of their Homeland Security Grant? That would be interesting considering the guidance states that the only allowable equipment purchases must be for volunteer training or by volunteers carrying out their response functions.
I hate to be such a killjoy but compared to the more boring dangers of everyday life, that of “terrorism” is virtually nonexistent in an area like this. While here we are, cutting back on ambulance services and so forth. This story couldn’t help but make me think of that delightful old Onion article: http://www.theonion.com/articles/security-beefed-up-at-cedar-rapids-public-library,217/
Yup it is a big waste of spending. But rather than complain about on our local newspaper’s website, why are we not out in the streets protesting for change. Sure it feels good to state your opinion, but everyone has an opinion. Nothing will ever change if we don’t rise up as a community and unite against the corruption that is ALL AROUND US. The city of Greenville has been wasting my tax dollars for far too long. I am gonna go live in the woods.