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.