Grant helps reopen Calif. fire station, rehire firefighters, buy new trucks

By Jessica A. York
The Vallejo Times Herald

VALLEJO, Calif. — Vallejo's fire department is set to hire nine new firefighters for two years, buy two new fire engines and reopen a station following City Council approval Tuesday night.

The council also accepted a nearly $736,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospital and Health Plan to pay three years of salary and benefits for a new police officer. In other action, the council delayed by a week severing all ties with a potential Mare Island film studio developer.

The new fire staffing will come from a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, the second the city has received in recent years.

Interim Fire Chief Paige Meyer said last week that the city had a serious need for personnel, after an approximately 45 percent force reduction in the past three and a half years.

Meyer said it's unclear what will happen when the grant ends, but expressed hope the department can absorb the personnel as replacements for outgoing retirees.

Interim City Manager Phil Batchelor also addressed the limited funding.

"Even if we're going to lose all nine of them, we think it's good to have additional personnel serving the community for two years," Batchelor said.

The new fire pump truck purchases will replace vehicles more than 20 years old, city staff said.

"Have we literally run the wheels of the (engines) that we have? Yes," Battalion chief Greg Falkenthal told the council.

The council also formalized receipt of Kaiser's police officer grant funding, which will be leveraged against a federal grant to hire even more officers. Police Chief Robert Nichelini told the council the new hires will be a former department cadet, and two officers who recently left the city for other departments.

"Our goal is to help in implementing a comprehensive neighborhood... program that will enhance the safety of the entire community," Kaiser Permanente Chief Operating Officer and President Bernard Tyson said. "We are extremely proud to be a part of Vallejo's resurgence and recovery."

The council also delayed seeking new development proposals for 157 acres on North Mare Island, which the city has been holding in reserve until recently for a potential film studio project.

Former city manager Joe Tanner spoke in support of the delay after congratulating the City Council for recently exiting Vallejo's bankruptcy. Tanner was at the helm of city government when Vallejo filed for Chapter 9 protection in 2008.

A special meeting on seeking a new Mare Island developer is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Vallejo City Hall.

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