Bronson Fire Chief Dennis Russell tells council members the SAFER grant program is worth keeping.

A $428,000 federal grant to train Bronson firefighters hung in the balance Monday night as town council members wrestled with scrapping the program or keeping it in some form.

            Ultimately the board instructed Fire Chief Dennis Russell to obtain additional information in writing on whether the town would have to repay what’s left of the grant if a decision was made not to go forward with it.

            Russell said approximately $400,000 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grant remains unspent and he was under the impression the town wouldn’t have to repay the grant.

            But council members wanted rock solid information on whether the grant would have to be repaid if the program was discontinued. Councilman Jason Hunt was ready to scrap the program.

            Hunt, the councilman who oversees the fire department, said the grant program ran into problems when former Program Administrator Paul Anderson resigned to take a higher paying job elsewhere.

            The SAFER grant was in its first year when Anderson resigned.

            “I don’t think this benefits us,” Hunt said. “I don’t think any good will come of this.”

            Russell has struggled to find a replacement administrator. He said recruitment has been difficult because the grant runs out in three years and applicants can’t apply for a different job while administering the program.

             Council members gave Russell the green light to re-advertise for the program administrator.

            Councilwoman Beatrice Roberts said she was told the grant was one of the worst the town could administer.

            “They said it was a bad grant to have, so many things to critique, so many things you have to follow through on,” she said.

            But Roberts said she wants to give Russell a chance to find a full-time administrator to run the SAFER program. She said a full-time administrator with grant writing experience might be able to secure other grants while administering the SAFER Program.

            “I’m just waiting to see. I hope we can get someone to administer it,” she said. She said Anderson wrote a $900,000 grant to build a new fire house while administering the SAFER program.

            “If we can get someone to do that part-time; part of the qualifications are to be a grant writer,” she said.

            Early in the discussion with the council, Russell suggested that he could take over as the primary administrator for the program working 24 hours a week, mainly on weekends recruiting and training firefighters. He would give up his $8,400 chief’s salary to avoid a conflict while administrating the program. Anderson would come back and work for the grant program 16 hours a week.

            But the council turned down the split administration plan, in part because of the potentially nightmarish accounting procedures involved with a split administration, but also because no one knows whether Anderson would bolt for a higher paying job after being rehired and strand the town a second time.

            “Paul did what benefited Paul,” Hunt said.

            Hunt said Anderson was earning $60,000 in salary and benefits as the SAFER grant administrator when he took a job at a different location that paid better.

            “The man left because he saw more dollar signs. He didn’t care what happened to Bronson,” Hunt said.

            Russell was asked why the town doesn’t rely on free training offered by the Department of Public Safety for starting firefighters, known as Firefighter 1’s.

            Russell, who works full-time at the Department of Public Safety in maintenance, said the county program doesn’t provide the same level of training as the SAFER grant. He said the SAFER program would train recruits to the Firefighter II level and certify them as Emergency Medical Center technicians, giving the town a professional firefighting staff.

            Protecting the Park

            Council members unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that would establish fines of up to $500 for anyone who damages town property at James H. Cobb Park.

            When the ordinance is adopted on second reading in two weeks, the town will erect signs at the entrance to the park warning people that motorized vehicle traffic and visitors are prohibited from entering from midnight to 5 a.m.

            The park has been repeatedly savaged by vandals who seem to care little about preserving the park landscape or protecting the facilities. Some vandals have repeatedly spun circular donuts on the park soccer field.

            The interior of bathrooms have been gutted and left in ruins. The American flag, Florida flag and POW/MIA flag were stolen one night.

            Town officials have repaired the bathrooms. The soccer field has been restored and fenced. The flags have been replaced.

            The ordinance will permit the town to prosecute vandals in court and fine them up to $500 for their malicious activities.

            Hidden cameras are being installed to record the nighttime activities of visitors who go there illegally.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting August 5, 2019; Posted August 5, 2019