Jamestown City Council holds special meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency (May 16, 2023)

Jamestown City Council members were able to get more details about the SAFER grant received by the City during a meeting with FEMA Tuesday afternoon.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Project Manager Julia Barron answered questions council members had submitted about the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants program.

The city of Jamestown has received $1.8 million under the SAFER grant to hire eight additional firefighters.

Barron said the grant agreement included funding eight new full-time positions, “On the last page of the notice of funding opportunity announcement, it indicates that when you accept the award you accept the requirement to maintain the number of full time operational firefighter positions that you have on the day of grant award, plus the additional positions that were awarded under the grant.”

Barron said the city had 54 firefighters on the roster in February 2023 when the grant was awarded to the city, so the city must add eight firefighters for a total number of 62 firefighters on the roster. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon confirmed that initial 54 does include the four firefighters hired in 2023 using American Rescue Plan funds. Barron said the city is required to maintain that staffing level of 62 over the three years of the grant with the understanding that the number may dip below that for short time periods due to resignations, retirements, or new firefighters going through the Academy.

Another question council members had was whether the city could reapply for the grant again and the likelihood of the city receiving funding again. Barron said it usually depends on local support for sustaining the new positions and that in order to get the same grant again, that means the city would be planning on hiring new firefighters, “If you currently have a grant and you’re required to be at 62, then, let’s say, next year you apply again or in three years you apply again, let’s say you’re exactly at 62 when you receive that new grant. Well, if you’re going to add another eight positions then the minimum required staffing level for that grant would be, and those previous firefighters had not left, then the new level for that grant would be 70.”

Barron said the city could apply for retention fund for the eight new firefighters in a case where they don’t have the funds to keep those new positions, “There’s a lot of tricky rules around retention positions. You have to have issued them a lay-off notice within a certain period of time and you can’t lay-off during the current grant. So, it starts to get a little bit tricky with retaining these exact same positions versus hiring new and sort of allowing attrition to happen and just adding on with new firefighters.”

Barron said that while other grantees had received additional years of funding, the grant process is very competitive. She said the city has until August when they should start billing to draw down grant monies for the new positions.

Council members requested from city administration that the roster of firefighters on staff when the grant was received by the city be shared with them as well as the financial information on fringe benefits costs.

Council President Tony Dolce said the resolution to lift the hiring freeze to approve the hiring of eight firefighters with the SAFER grant funds will be on City Council’s voting agenda for Monday, May 22.

Jamestown City Council

Council President Tony Dolce said there were four basic questions that council members had for the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants program.

These questions include whether fewer than eight firefighters could be hired with the $1.8 million grant, can the city reapply for the SAFER grant in three years and what is the likelihood of being approved again; does the city have to wait a specific period before applying for the grant for the second time; and have other SAFER grantees been approved for a second round of funding and how soon after the second application were they approved.

The meeting is set for 4:00 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room on the fourth floor of City Hall. The meeting is open to the public and will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov

Jamestown City Council meeting (May 8, 2023)

Jamestown City Council will meet with FEMA representatives to ask questions about the SAFER grant at a special council work session on May 16.

Council President Tony Dolce said there were four basic questions that council members had including if eight firefighters had to be hired with the $1.8 million grant, “The second question was, can the city reapply for the SAFER grant in three years and what is the likelihood of being approved again? Three, would the city have to wait a specific period before applying for the grant for the second time? And the other question was, have other SAFER grantees been approved for a second round of funding and how soon after the second application were they approved?”

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon shared that the purchase of a second ambulance that was approved by Council was ready to go out to bid and that the vehicle could be received as soon as one to two months.

The meeting with FEMA will take place at 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 16 in the Mayor’s Conference Room on the fourth floor of City Hall. It is open to the public.

City Council Finance and Public Works committees also reviewed and approved a lease extension request for the owner of the Chautauqua Belle to dock at McCrea Point Park.

U.S. Steam Lines has been using the dock at the park since 2019 and is asking for a new 5-year term lease with the option to renew the lease for two additional 5-year terms. The resolution now goes onto the voting session on May 22 for formal approval.

Jamestown City Council

Council is expected to have the opportunity to ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency questions about the grant funding at a special work session that’s yet to be scheduled.

One of the questions Council is likely to ask is whether the number of firefighters to be hired under the SAFER grant can be reduced from the eight that were requested in the grant.

Council also will review a lease extension for the owner of the Chautauqua Belle to dock at McCrea Point Park.

U.S. Steam Lines has been using the dock at the park since 2019 and is asking for a 5-year term lease with the option to renew the lease for two additional 5-year terms.

Council also will hear an update from Grants Writer Paula Pichon on pending grants.

The Public Safety Committee will vote on five special event permits.

The Housing Committee meets at 6:45 p.m. with other committees meeting at 7:00 p.m. The full council work session will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room located on the fourth floor of City Hall. The public is welcome to attend all meetings with the full work session being livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Jamestown City Council discusses resolution to hire eight fire fighters (April 24, 2023)

Jamestown City Council once again tabled a resolution to hire eight new firefighters at its voting session.

Council member at large Jeff Russell made the motion, citing extenuating circumstances, following a lengthy discussion before a packed council chambers that included most of the members of the Jamestown Fire Department.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund cited financial concerns with the three-year $1.8 million SAFER grant, saying that costs presented to council for those three years is $2.1 million which didn’t include overtime costs, working out of title, and comp time.

She said in 2022, personnel expenses in the Fire Department were $250,000 over budget, “Talking financially, this grant will not provide all those previously mentioned items I just talked about as well as training, estimated at $46,000, uniforms estimated at $46,000, and other incidental expenses. While people don’t want to hear this, we as a council have to remain fiscally responsible and understanding the needs of our departments and empathetic to the future of Jamestown.”

Ecklund said based on these numbers, the city could be faced with a $450 to $500,000 total shortfall over the three years of the grant. She said the American Rescue Plan funds used to hire four firefighters in 2022 runs out the the last year of the SAFER grant, which leaves another $382,000 for the city to fund.

Crowd for the Jamestown City Council meeting (April 24, 2023)

Ecklund said a second ambulance would bring in more revenue but running the two ambulances would not bring in the $750 to $900,000 needed. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon had informed Council previously that the estimated revenue from running two ambulances is about $400,000 total a year.

Council member Marie Carrubba commented that former City Comptrollers Joe Bellitto and Ryan Thompson had both previously stated that the hiring of the four ARPA funded firefighters would “stretch the city’s budget to its limit,” “The idea that we’d hire an additional eight would be unsustainable and we have to look at that. And I don’t always agree with Mr. Champ, but I think you said it very well tonight. We have to be concerned not only with the present, but the future and the financial condition of the city when we are reaching our constitutional taxing limit, when we’re not able to raise taxes, my question to all of the citizens are what do you want us to cut?”

Ecklund asked Mayor Eddie Sundquist if the SAFER grant would allow the city to hire less than the eight firefighters proposed.

Sundquist responded that if Council provides him a number, he can ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency about that. None of the previous discussions by the city administration until Monday’s voting session indicated that the grant allowed the city to hire less than eight fire fighters under the grant.

The motion to table the resolution until May passed with just Council member Regina Brackman voting no.

In a related resolution, Council did approve purchasing a second ambulance for the fire department with $250,000 in American Rescue Plan funds.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer discusses Fire Grants and Safety Act (March 2, 2023)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is sounding the alarm on the potential elimination of federal funds for firefighters.

Schumer said the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program are only authorized through the end of September 30, 2023, “This would devastate upstate New York fire departments that uniquely depend on this program, ripping away millions from communities to hire new firefighters, purchase life-saving equipment, and much more. So, I’m here to sound the alarm and to announce my push to lead the effort to save these critical federal firefighters programs with a new bill. It’s called the Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023.”

Schumer said the act would reauthorize the U.S. Fire Administration, the Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program through 2030. The bill also extends the sunset for both SAFER and AFG from 2024 to 2032. He said the bill would increase the authorization for the U.S. Fire Administration by about $20 million, while maintain the authorized funding level for SAFER and AFG at $750 million.

Schumer said since the start of these programs in 2002, the grants have delivered nearly $700 million in federal funding to NY firefighters, including over $23 million in federal funding last year alone.

Last month, the Jamestown Fire Department received $1,816,201 from these programs to hire 8 new firefighters and $284,291 to purchase new radios and a rope bailout system.

The AFG and SAFER grant programs are both administered by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide competitive funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to purchase essential equipment and help them increase the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities.

The $1,816,201 SAFER, or Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program, grant comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The funds will fully cover the cost of the eight new hires for three years, with no cost share from the City. Jamestown was one of three New York state departments awarded SAFER grants in this round of funding, which also included Fulton and New Rochelle. Last week, city officals announced the receipt of a $284,000 Assistance to Firefighter’s Grant for new radios and rope bailout system.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said in a statement that one of his top priorities has been “..to enhance staffing and equipment in our public safety departments… These awards will help improve responsiveness, increase fire protection, and increase EMS coverage for all Jamestown residents and businesses. I would like to thank my friend Senator Schumer, who has been a tireless advocate for increased public safety resources in communities like Jamestown, for his support which made this award possible.”

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency totals $284,291. City Council had approved adding $14,000 to the 2023 Budget for the purchase of a new bailout system.

The grant will now fully cover the cost of the new items, with no cost share from the City.

Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon said the new radios will allow firefighters to more easily communicate with mutual aid agencies and Chautauqua County EMS. The new bailout system will replace an older bailout system that is now considered obsolete. Coon said these are an essential part of a firefighter’s arsenal, as it can provide a firefighter with the capability to make a quick and rapid escape from a fire when standard methods of departure – via stairs, elevator, or a ladder – are not possible.

The funding by the Federal Emergency Management Agency was awarded to county emergency management agencies in New York State to support planning and operational readiness for disaster response.

The funding assists efforts ranging from the development and implementation of training and exercises to acquiring emergency response resources at the county level.

To receive funding, counties must develop projects or initiatives that strengthen their own readiness and response capabilities to address all potential hazards. Projects may focus on addressing efforts identified by FEMA as needing national improvement, including logistics and distribution management planning, evacuation planning, disaster financial management, catastrophic disaster housing and resilient communications.

The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) will administer the funding on behalf of FEMA.

Chautauqua County received a Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to complete an update to the County’s 2016 Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP).

The purpose of hazard mitigation planning is to reduce damage to the environment and prevent the loss of life and number and severity of injuries that may result from natural hazard events.

The virtual public information meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m., October 17. The public is invited to submit comments and questions about hazard mitigation planning concerns.

The link to participate in the meeting can be found here: https://bartonandloguidice.zoom.us/j/81185357865

The meeting will also be livestreamed to YouTube: https://youtu.be/LvYKV9P14V8

For questions or assistance needs, please contact Noel Guttman at Guttman@chautcofire.org or 716-753-4341.