SC fire division may turn down SAFER grant

By Daniel Brownstein
The Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, S.C.

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HILTON HEAD, SC — Almost a million dollars is hard to turn down, but that's exactly what the Town of Hilton Head Island Fire and Rescue Division might do.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded a four-year, $975,420 grant to the island's fire department to hire nine new firefighters.

But like many federal grants, this one comes with strings attached.

In the first year of the grant, it would finance about 75 percent of the cost for the new employees, according to Fire Chief Lavarn Lucas. The funding gradually would decline over the next three years until the town is responsible for paying all the salaries.

"It's obviously a great opportunity, but there are costs associated with the grant that we need to confer with Town Council about," said Lucas. "Many departments have applied for grants in the past, accepted them and then, at the end of four years, decided to let the new personnel go because they could no longer afford them. That's a mistake that we don't want to make."

Lucas could offer no time frame for when a decision on the grant would be made.

Despite the strings, the grant comes with benefits.

The new personnel would mean some engines could carry four firefighters per shift -- a national standard. It also would allow some engines to remain in service while ambulances from the same station are out on calls.

Currently, fire engines are taken out of service whenever the ambulance from the station goes on a call because not enough firefighters remain at the firehouse to operate the engines.

The town applied for the grant about six months ago, initially proposing the money be used to add a second ladder truck. Plans for that truck were scrapped when fire officials decided they could beef up the existing fire engines and avoid buying the new ladder truck.

"Now that we know the grant has been approved, we'll look past that five-year point to see if this is in the long-term benefit to the town," Lucas said.

The grant question comes at a time of financial uncertainty and property tax caps prevent Hilton Head from significantly raising taxes to make up shortfalls.

Copyright 2009 The Island Packet