Staunton City Council approved submission of an application Thursday night for the city to be considered for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants to hire three firefighters.
Managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program Office, SAFER Grants provide financial assistance to assist fire departments in increasing their number of frontline firefighters.
Initially, Staunton Fire Chief Jason Ball requested to apply for the addition of six firefighters, however, the city has already approved its budget for 2026.
“We want to jump on this because we’re not sure if it’s going to be there next year or the years to come,” Ball said.
In 2018, the city received funding from the same grant and was able to add six firefighters, but now the department is understaffed.
The department learned of the grant funding opportunity on May 23 and have until July 3 to submit an application for consideration.
“This has been a fairly quick process,” Ball said to council Thursday night.
According to Ball, Staunton employs 36 firefighters: 11 per shift and three administrators. In recent years, staffing was reduced by two per shift, so he requested six new firefighters to get the department back to full staffing and allow staff to take days off and vacation days. Staff work in 24-hour shifts. The goal is to schedule 15 personnel per shifts.
The grant funding would pay 75 percent of eligible salaries and benefits for the first and second years, which would be 2026 and 2027 for Staunton. In year three (2028), grant funding would pay for 35 percent and in grant year four (2029), the city would have to maintain the staff who were employed during the time of its application.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) sets standards for firefighter safety, training and operations. For a career department with an aerial device, Ball said the 17/10 standard is applied. Seventeen firefighters should be on the scene of a fire within eight minutes.
“So, we feel we can do this, if we get this [grant funding],” Ball said.
Councilmember Jeff Overholtzer asked where the city is with the 17/10 standard right now. For three years, Ball said the department has been at 3.22 percent. Maintaining an ISO rating of at least level 2 is also important because it affects the city’s home insurance rates. The higher the number, the higher home insurance rates.
According to Staunton Chief Financial Officer Jessie Moyers, the city would need a one-time cost of $37,000 and $4,500 for uniforms in the first year for six new firefighters. In the second year, it would need $191,000.
“As you know, that’s the budget we just approved. We should have carry-over cost we can use,” Moyers said in discussing the city’s budget options if awarded the grant funding. The grant funding would allow the city to “kind of ease into” the additional salary costs.
Other funding options for the city’s share of the cost are available, such as funds from the tax rate increase.
Overholtzer asked if the council agreed to use the carry-over funding for capital improvement projects (CIP), which they did. And the tax rate increase was also made with the intention to fund CIP.
Mayor Michele Edwards said that she did not like hearing the city is understaffed at the fire department and that staff are unable to take vacation time, but she was also concerned about finding another $500,000 in a future budget to fund more personnel.
“Having said that, I certainly want to make sure our [fire safety] has what they need and more,” Edwards said.
Councilmember Adam Campbell suggested hiring only three new firefighters instead of Ball’s requested six after he asked Ball what was his minimum necessary to hire. At least three new firefighters would add one new individual to each of the department’s three shifts.
“Because, essentially, we’re future councils into budget decisions,” Edwards said of the city possibly earning the grant funding.
Staunton City Manager Leslie Beauregard said council would only vote Thursday night on a decision to submit the application, not on accepting grant funding or hiring more firefighters.
Ball said that the grant funding awards will be announced between August 18 and September 30.
Edwards said that funding may not be available in the future to provide salaries for new firefighters, but the city also needs more firefighters. She agreed with submitting an application to fund three new firefighters, not six.
A motion to approve was made by Campbell and seconded by Vice Mayor Brad Arrowood before unanimous approval by council. Councilmember Blake Shepherd was absent from Thursday’s meeting.
Share
Rebecca Barnabi
