After hearing testimony from local firemen, the Poplar Bluff City Council unanimously approved a motion Friday to apply for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant. Council members and firefighters also agreed during the special meeting the grant could have an even greater impact if it is approved alongside the use tax on next month’s ballot.
Firefighter Josh Buhler, who is also president of the International Association of Firefighters’ local union, said the federal grant would raise the Poplar Bluff Fire Department’s staffing to adequate levels. The PBFD would need $750,000 from the grant to pay three firefighters $70,000 each plus benefits for three years, he explained.
“It’d be a huge asset for our department to gain more personnel: one per shift, we have three shifts at our department, we run nine personnel per shift. So this would put us at 10,” he said.
The use tax, if passed, would add much-needed 911 dispatchers, according to city officials, as well as three more firefighters, bringing the total up to six.
“That would be huge if we get the SAFER as well (as the use tax),” said Buhler. “And then another bonus is that this one adds dispatchers too, so that’s a large plus for us because whenever they’re understaffed. That puts a lot of stress on them, and it puts stress on us.”
Having more emergency personnel would also raise the city’s Insurance Services Office fire rating, which measures communities’ preparedness for fires and affects insurance premiums.
“The better we score, the better your insurance rates,” explained IAFF secretary and firefighter Eric Mieresch.
The highest possible score is 1 and the lowest is 10. Mieresch said Poplar Bluff’s rating is 4.
City manager Matt Winters raised the question of what would happen at end of the three year grant. Buhler hoped the city would be in a position to retain the firefighters at that time, whether on their own or through other grants.
“I would hope that by the end of that grant, we would be in a position to either retain them or to seek this funding again for another round, one of the two,” he said.
He went on to clarify the new firefighters would not be hired until late this year or early 2024, due to the grant’s processing time.
“You’re looking at almost four years from today down the road before the grant runs out,” he said.
He was uncertain if the SAFER Grant could be renewed but said the PBFD would still be eligible for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
The board unanimously approved the motion to seek the SAFER Grant.
Voters will decide on the use tax in April’s local elections. Anyone with questions about the proposal can contact Winters at 573-785-7474 or mwinters@pbcity.org.