The Watertown City Council passed a resolution authorizing the city fire department to apply for funding from the US Department of Homeland Security for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant. The department seeks to increase staffing from 68 to 72.
The Watertown Fire Department SAFER grant is seeking $1,279,000 from FEMA to support eligible expenses of the additional four firefighters over three years.
The council asked if they were being proactive enough and asked if they should look to hire more. Fire Chief Matthew Timmerman said a staffing of 72 is most cost-effective.
"Regardless of whatever retirements we have over the duration of the grant, we'll backfill those," Timmerman said. "Those positions will stay right at 72, right up through the end of the grant, regardless of how many retirees we have."
The SAFER grant application is due March 17 and would hear back from FEMA between June and the end of September. Timmerman expects total savings from a successful application would total roughly $1,356,000 over three years.
