WEST POINT — Town councilman Steve Link has a new duty.

Storm shelter consumer.

The West Point town council voted unanimously to submit a letter of intent to apply for federal aid made available through the Alabama Emergency Management Agency to help with the cost of building municipality storm shelters at its monthly meeting Monday night.

West Point wasn’t alone. Every municipality in Cullman County, except Colony and Holly Pond, submitted a letter of intent to the Cullman County Economic Development Office by Tuesday’s deadline.

The letter of intent is not binding and the municipalities’ leaders can discuss whether to further pursue the federal aid before the final application’s deadline on August 1.

“After the storms, it’s heightened everyone’s sense of awareness,” West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo said, referring to the April 27 tornado outbreak that killed 238 people in Alabama, including two in Cullman County.

Through the assistance program, the federal government will pay for 75 percent of the cost for a community storm shelter. According to early estimates Link has received for West Point, the cost for a shelter capable of housing 96 people will be approximately $80,000.

According to the 2010 census numbers, West Point has a population of 586 — almost double its recorded population in 2000 — along with a Class 5A high school located in the center of town.

“We’re like anyone else. You want to protect your people and your belongings,” Kilgo said. “So we’re going to pursue it as long as it’s affordable and not outlandish in the requirements.”

Similar shelters are already located in Garden City and Vinemont.

Vinemont Mayor Melba Patton said their community shelter has been heavily used, which is why the town has started the application process to add two additional units. The Providence community, located near Vinemont, also submitted a letter of intent.

“On the day the tornadoes came through (on April 27), there was standing room only in our shelter,” Patton said. “Our shelter gets used anytime there’s bad weather in the area, but we need more space because there were more than 100 people standing in there on the day of the storms and it only seats 96 people.”

Garden City town clerk Pam Leslie echoed similar sentiments about their municipality’s five storm shelter units.

“We actually had several people in the shelter when the first storm came through early that morning,” Leslie said of the EF-2 tornado that came through the Hanceville area on April 27. “But we have people come to the shelter just about anytime there’s a severe weather warning in the area. It’s been good for our community.”

Every local municipal leader didn’t feel the need to begin the application process.

Holly Pond Mayor Herman Nail said the town council decided not to submit a letter of intent because of a lack of funds and the fact there’s a Baptist church located in town that has a basement capable of housing approximately 200 people.

 “We actually went through a similar process a few years ago,” Nail said. “But we didn’t get the shelters because they wouldn’t let us build them where we wanted … we were told they had to be in a certain proximity to a building.

“But we’ve got a Baptist church in town that has a basement that holds 200 people. Plus, we don’t have the money to cover the expenses. These shelters can be expensive.”

Colony Mayor Morris Fitts said his town was interested in the grant money, but had not received enough information to proceed with the application process by Tuesday’s deadline.

Like Holly Pond, Good Hope has buildings with basements located near the center of town — including one at the town hall — but Mayor Corey Harbison said the decision to begin the application process was a “no-brainer.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Harbison said. “Yeah, this grant money comes from the taxpayers, but if our towns don’t take it, they’re just going to send it somewhere else.

“We’ve got a basement at town hall that several people use anytime there’s a bad storm, but it’s not up to the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) standards, so with a town the size of Good Hope, being able to get these storm shelters for basically little to nothing would be a great thing.”

* Justin Graves can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 257 or by email at jgraves@cullmantimes.com.