Griffen Smith
Missoulian, Mont.
(TNS)

Sep. 18—Missoula’s Fire Department will have a large financial “cushion” to expand its infrastructure after the federal government awarded the city a $7 million grant, which comes on top of an additional $7 million dollars from a voter-approved levy.

The federal SAFER grant will provide $7 million over three years to pay for 26 new firefighters, as opposed to the original 20 provided by the levy.

Fire Chief Gordy Hughes said Wednesday that with the addition of the federal grant, the fire department should be able to use levy money to build a second maintenance facility and a permanent home for the city’s Mobile Support Team.

“What that grant does not provide is the (personal protective equipment) for those firefighters, but what it does provide is some cushion in our levy to address what we went through earlier in the budget process in terms of items not budgeted for,” Hughes said.

The city was awarded the grant after it approved its 2025 fiscal year budget, which includes the $7 million from the levy for the fire department to build a sixth fire station. Voters approved the fire levy in May.

The $7 million levy will pay for one-time purchases like new buildings and equipment, while the grant will fund the salaries of the new employees for the next three years, which is required by the grant.

Once the grant is exhausted, the permanent levy will cover the costs of the new employees and infrastructure, Hughes said.

The department originally asked for a voter-approved mill levy to improve its response times and build a sixth fire station. Hughes previously said that new growth in Missoula has pushed the department behind national call time standards.

The fire department is now searching for a location to build a sixth station. In the meantime, Hughes said the department will expand its maintenance station and also build a location for the Mobile Support Team (MST) at Station 4.

The MST responds to nonviolent cases of crisis where the police or fire department might not be equipped to handle, like helping residents get in touch with service providers and other supportive actions.

MST was also funded by the May voter-approved levy.

Assistant Fire Chief Brad Davis said because so many additional firefighters will join the department in the coming months, the fire union has asked for a new full-time training position. The position would cost roughly $220,000 and have a $127,000 salary, he said.

City Council initially approved the new position on Wednesday and will take a final vote on Monday, Sept. 23. After 2025, the position will have to be funded by the city as an ongoing budget request.

“We want to make sure that we get all of the new firefighters that we are excited to bring on the force well trained,” Ward 5 Councilor Stacie Anderson said. “And then training is an ongoing thing to make sure that skills are where they need to be to provide the level of service that we expect in Missoula.”

The added resources will allow the fire department to have another fully staffed battalion, which is an engine and crew, by next March. The city currently has five battalions online at all hours of the day.

Also on Wednesday, the city gave initial approval for the fire department to authorize a five-year contract extension with Missoula Emergency Services Incorporated to provide EMS services within the city.

Griffen Smith is the local government reporter for the Missoulian.

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(c)2024 Missoulian, Mont.

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The city of Las Cruces and Las Cruces Fire marked a major milestone with the groundbreaking of Fire Station 9 on the city’s East Mesa, the city said in a Facebook post. This $9.4 million project, funded through the 2022 General Obligation Bond, will serve the fast-growing neighborhoods north of Highway 70.

Mandy Guss, Director of Communications, spoke on behalf of Mayor Eric Enriquez, alongside District 5 Councilor Becky Corran and Fire Chief Jason Smith, who highlighted the importance of this new station. Fire Station 9 will help meet the needs of the rapidly expanding community, with hundreds of new homes and businesses developed in the area.

Construction of the 12,000-square-foot Fire Station 9 will begin in September. Completion of the project is anticipated in early 2026.

If you missed the groundbreaking you can check it out at youtube.com/@lascrucesgov.

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Craig Fox
Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
(TNS)

Sep. 19—WATERTOWN — A construction project should resolve a flooding issue at the Massey Street Fire Station.

Department of Public Works crews are working on a project in front of the South Massey Street station that should prevent flooding during torrential rainstorms.

The fire station has been prone to flooding when a dirt parking lot across the street floods, the rainwater then crosses the road and comes into the building, Chief Matthew R. Timerman said.

Most recently, about four inches of water ended up in the fire truck bays on the same day when many residential basements flooded after three inches of rain fell within an hour. On occasion, Timerman said his office ends up with water in his office.

“We were lucky it was during the day and staff used pumps get the water inside,” he said, adding it would have been a different story if the two storms happened at night.

The DPW workers are putting down new asphalt in front of the station to prevent the flooding as part of some other long-needed improvements to the building.

They’re replacing — and enlarging — the concrete apron in front of the building for the first time since the building was converted from a city pool building in 1992, Timerman said. The apron needs to be replace because it has cracks in it from the heavy fire trucks sitting on it.

A four-inch berm, or small hill, will be installed across the asphalt driveway to prevent the runoff from getting into the building, the chief said.

The city is using American Rescue Plan Act funding to complete the project.

Superintendent Brian MacCue said the four DPW workers should be completed with the project in a few months.

A small grassy knoll also will be taken out in front of the building and the old fire station sign will be replaced with a new one. The City Council is expected to accept a bid for the sign work at its Oct. 7 meeting.

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(c)2024 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)

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