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I announced at last evening's Selectmen's meeting that the Town has been notified that we are the recipient of a major fire grant totalling nearly $130,000! Below is some information from Fire Chief Richard Pauley to the Board of Selectmen regarding this important award for the Town.
You may recall that in May of 2009, as part of our Annual Goals (#2 Aggressively Pursue Grants) we applied for a federal grant through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program administered by the Department of Homeland Security for the replacement of the Department’s self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
I am pleased to announce that this afternoon I was notified by Senator Kerry’s office and Congressman McGovern’s Office, that our application for this grant was approved in the amount of $129,675.00 for the purchase of twenty-six (26) new SCBA’s (each unit consists of a SCBA unit, face piece, spare cylinder, voice amplification, buddy breathing option and personal alert safety system device) which will replace all of the existing SCBA’s that are in excess of thirteen (13) years old. This is a (95/5) matching grant with the Federal government covering 95% of the amount and the Town covering 5% of the amount, in this case the Town’s share is $6,825.00. In essence, with this matching arrangement we are paying for just over one (1) of the SCBA units and the
Federal government is paying for the remaining twenty-five (25) units. The award of this grant is a major accomplishment in that it will allow us to replace all of our outdated SCBA equipment that is no longer compliant with the current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards with new, modern and safer units at almost no cost to the Town. Had we not received this grant, the replacement of this equipment would have been sought through the Annual Town meeting process with the necessary funds being appropriated at the local level.
As with our recently approved SAFER grant, this grant program is highly competitive with the majority of applications being denied each year. In addition, with the approval of this grant, the Town has received just over $400,000.00 in Federal grant money through the Department of Homeland Security in less than three (3) years. These awards have helped to cover the cost of two (2) new Firefighter/EMTs, new firefighter protective clothing (turnout gear, gloves, hoods and boots) and now the SCBAs.
Leon A. Gaumond Jr.
Town Administrator
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