Select Board pledges to increase fire department if town wins grant

Board has pledged to add up to $180,000 for two additional firefighters in a future town budget if the town wins a federal grant.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100918/NEWS02/709189901

Published September 18, 2010 in the Rutland Herald

Springfield Select Board pledges to increase fire department if town wins grant

By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Select Board has pledged to pay for two additional firefighters if the town is successful in winning a grant to pay for the first two years of their positions.

The board on Monday authorized Fire Chief Russell Thompson to apply for a so-called SAFER grant, which would fund two full-time firefighters for two years. But a condition of the grant is that the town would fund a third year of the two positions, at a cost between $150,000 and $180,000. SAFER stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants and is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Thompson said he doubted Springfield’s application would prove successful, given the fact that the grant process is highly competitive and the fact that Springfield has not laid off any firefighters in recent times, in contrast to other regions.

Town Manager Robert Forguites said Thursday that while the department was not understaffed per se, “any department in the town could use more people.”

He said the Select Board understood that the grant included a commitment that “three years from now, we are committed to an increase of between $150,000 to $180,000.”

Thompson said that even with the two additional full-time firefighters, there would be no guarantee that the department’s overtime budget would be cut.

The fire chief, who oversees both the fire and ambulance services, said calls are on the increase in the town.

The chief told the board that the 2009 Congress had authorized $420 million nationwide for firefighter staffing, and of that amount, 10 percent to 15 percent had been designated for rural areas.

“We have staffing issues here,” Thompson said, noting that the number of runs his staff are completing was increasing.

The chief found a sympathetic reception from the board; Select Board member Terri Benton’s husband is a member of the Fire Department and Chairman Kristi Morris is an on-call firefighter.

Thompson said Springfield had a “very, very slim chance” of winning the award, particularly since the town’s staffing level “is still under the threshold for the grant.”

Thompson estimated that in current costs the two firefighters would cost $143,000 for the third year, but he warned the costs could go up.

“I can’t say it’s going to save you money,” the chief said. The town department has encountered staffing problems because so many on-call firefighters work out of town during the day, or employers no longer let them out of work to fight fires.

Plus, the chief said, since 9/11, volunteerism has been dying.

Forguites said the deadline for applying for the positions is today.