ORANGE — The possibility of adding three full-time firefighters is on the table, a $706,185 investment over three years.
While most of that money would come from a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, Orange residents must vote to approve complementary municipal funds at an upcoming Special Town Meeting to make the new positions a reality.
The Special Town Meeting will be held on Aug. 16 at 7 p.m at the Ruth B. Smith Auditorium at Town Hall.
According to Fire Chief James Young, FEMA will pay $435,483 through its Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grant program, known as SAFER. The required municipal match would be $270,702 over a three-year period.
“This would allow us to hire three new full-time firefighter EMTs. This includes paying their salaries and benefits, and increases the shift staffing from the current three personnel per shift to four personnel per shift,” Young said.
Young made a presentation to the Selectboard Wednesday night detailing the grant. He said he’s been told FEMA will have the money available this month and, if accepted by voters, the department would be given a six-month “grace period” to advertise the available positions, before hiring next February.
Young said the demand for the Orange Fire Department’s services is already high, and having only three personnel working at a time makes things challenging, especially since Orange frequently helps with emergency response situations in surrounding communities.
“We are adding staffing, but we’re trying to keep up with the demand that’s being placed on us,” Young said. “The demand is already there.”
The article related to the SAFER grant is the final of eight articles on the Special Town Meeting warrant and specifically asks for the town “to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the sum of $25,000” for the first portion of the town’s share of the expenses.
That $25,000 would have to be paid in the 2019 fiscal year after the new hires were made — so between February and June 30, 2019.
Young expressed excitement and “a great sense of pride” that, in addition to the SAFER grant, the town has also been offered grants for a new mobile air compressor unit and firetruck, with the three grants altogether totaling $1,321,796.
“Affirmative votes to appropriate matching municipal funds for each of these grants will significantly enhance the ability of the Orange Fire Department to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Orange and the surrounding communities we serve,” Young said.
Compared to the SAFER grant, the grants for the mobile air compressor unit and pumper truck require relatively small fiscal contributions from the town — 5 percent matching funds, so one-time payments of $4,285 and $23,809 for the new equipment, respectively.
The extended and comparatively large municipal investment for the SAFER grant will likely make it look more “controversial” than the equipment grants, Selectboard Vice Chairwoman Jane Peirce said.
“We have had SAFER grants before and there were people saying, ‘What are we doing taking money that is going to cost us incrementally over time?’” Peirce said. “Because that’s how these work. We pay an increasing amount for the additional staff over time.”
However, Peirce said the SAFER grant, along with the equipment grants, is a worthwhile investment.
“When you guys have additional staff and you offer additional services, it brings in additional money. The ambulance brings in money, so it’s not like a straight, out-of-pocket cost to support this,” Peirce said. “There will be income that comes back.”
“If we get to the end of the grant and we have to lay people off, that’s going to be bad, but to have this opportunity to provide services that will save people’s lives, make their lives better, protect their property, you can’t put a dollar amount on that,” she added.
Fellow Selectboard members Tom Smith, James Cornwell and Ryan Mailloux were similarly supportive, and voted unanimously to allow Young to accept the grants on the behalf of the town, pending approval of the matching funds that may be appropriated at the Special Town Meeting.
Cornwell cautioned that exact figures of how much the town will need to spend during each of the three years must be available by the Special Town Meeting. He acknowledged that the town’s payments would increase after the first two years of having the new positions, in order to complete the entire municipal commitment of $270,702 to the investment.
Cornwell expressed confidence in Young, who is meeting with the Finance Committee on Aug. 13 to discuss the grants, how they will affect the town and projected future revenues.
“The opportunity to accomplish these goals with the majority of funds procured through federal grant awards is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass over,” Young said.