Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon addresses Jamestown City Council (April 10, 2023)
Jamestown City Council will vote tonight on whether to hire eight new firefighters.
The positions would be partially funded through a three-year $1.8 million SAFER grant. Council learned at its last work session that the estimated costs of the salaries and the city’s contributions to social security, state retirement, health insurance, worker’s compensation, and a one time purchase of turn-out gear comes out to $2,119,678 over a three year period. That equates to a total of $319,678 the city would have to cover over that three-year period.
City Council members have said their main concern is that they’d be faced with laying off the eight firefighter positions should the city not qualify for another round of federal funding in three years.
In a related resolution, Council also will vote on purchasing a second ambulance for the fire department with $250,000 in American Rescue Plan funds.
Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon told Council that the estimated revenue from running two ambulances is about $400,000 total a year.
Leave a Reply