Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday disputed statements by officials from a volunteer fire department in North Carolina and a state senator about when the fire department's recently announced federal loan and grants for a new fire station were approved.

Leaders of the Pikeville Pleasant Grove Volunteer Fire Department and state Sen. David Rouzer, a Republican, said Wednesday that the department had requested the $1 million loan and at least some of the $150,000 in grants last year and was working through the application process with the Bush administration, reports Mark Johnson.

The fire department's president, Russell Robertson, said he was told the loan was approved in December. Contract bids for the new station were put out in January, he said.

Rouzer, who worked for the Agriculture Department in the Bush administration, accused the Obama administration of being disingenuous because Vice President Joe Biden, who visited the fire department Wednesday, announced that the fire department was receiving stimulus money through the Obama administration.

Robertson reiterated his December timeframe Thursday morning. But after speaking with USDA officials, said later in the day that he had misunderstood the process.

He said the fire department did not officially apply for the money until March 5. USDA provided a copy of the application with that date.

PIKEVILLE — The tiny Pikeville Pleasant Grove Volunteer Fire Department has been invaded by video cameras and the entourage of a vice presidential visit.

Vice President Joe Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are due here this afternoon, after a stop in Faison, to announce the release of $1.76 billion in federal loan guarantees for home financing. That's supposed to help 15,000 families in rural America.

Pikeville, where 99 percent of the population lives in poverty, gets more than $1 million in loans and $50,000 to help replace the fire station where Biden will speak.

One disappointed attendee, though, was Diana Johnson, of Cary, who drove over with her four children in hopes of seeing Biden, only to find out the event was invitation only.

"We wouldn't trade it for anything," she said of the opportunity to see the veep. They may have to settle from watching, literally, from the other side of the railroad tracks that run by the station.