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Relief Abounds as Lorain Learns of Job-Saving Fire Grant

July 14, 2016
By: Katherine Nix, The Chronicle-Telegram
July 14, 2016
LORAIN — JoAnne Moon cried Wednesday morning.
She said she couldn’t stop when she and other city officials learned that Lorain would receive a federal grant that would allow 22 laid-off firefighters to return to work.
“I can’t seem to stop crying,” Moon, councilwoman for the city’s 5th Ward, said at the Central Fire station on Broadway where city officials and firefighters were told the news. “I’ve done quite a bit of praying on this and I’m so glad it came through. We really needed this as a city and I’m glad to know our residents will be safe again.”
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur confirmed the department received the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant through a videoconference with Mayor Chase Ritenauer, Fire Chief Tom Brown and Lorain Firefighters Local 267 President Ken Shawver.
“Thank you so much for your efforts and in serving your community,” Kaptur, D-Toledo, said. “You have been diligent in your lifesaving efforts, making a case for your city and as such Lorain will be receiving a SAFER Grant from the federal government.”
The city of Lorain laid off the 22 firefighters July 1, resulting in low staffing and slower than normal response times, in light of a $3.6 million budget deficit, which city officials blame in part on a declining steel industry.
The grant will save all 22 jobs for two years.
“This is great news and I want to get these guys back onto trucks as quickly as possible, which could be as early as the end of this week,” Ritenauer said. “This is finally some good news for the city of Lorain.”
Kaptur said the grant is worth a little over $3.1 million and is expected to last through 2018.
Brown said while he’s looking toward the future, which could potentially include a fire levy issue on the November ballot, he’s relieved that the grant money is being made available to his department.
“I was getting misty-eyed when I was listening to the congresswoman speak,” he said. “We’ve been under a lot of stress here and there’s been a lot of juggling that’s resulted in poor decisions being made. Now it’s time to look forward and look at levy options.”
According to a revenue proposal Ritenauer submitted to City Council, the levy would be a 1.7-mill property tax levy that would cost taxpayers an additional $60 per year per $100,000 of property owned.
“I also want to see some parameters in this levy proposal as to what the money can be used for,” Brown said. “I want it to say ‘This is what we’re going to do and there are no exceptions.’ ”
Shawver said he’s also excited about grant money but he’s gearing up for a levy campaign and in order to get a fire levy on the November ballot, the paperwork must be submitted to the Lorain County Board of Elections the first week in August.
“I’m ready to go out and get a levy going so this doesn’t happen again in two years,” firefighter Chris Cotterill said.
Cotterill was one of the firefighters laid off.
“I’m just so grateful that this grant came through,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”
The grant is awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and “was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase the number of trained, ‘front line’ firefighters available in their communities.”
According to FEMA’s website, the ultimate goal of the grant is to give local departments the ability to comply with staffing, response and operational standards in National Fire Protection Association 1710 and 1720.
During the layoff period, the Lorain Fire Department struggled with one of the standards in NFPA 1710 — a two in/two out standard that says for every two firefighters that enter a hazardous situation, two others must be removed from the situation and be ready to go in as backup.
While the NFPA standards are simply guidelines and aren’t written into law, the federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has a similar policy in place that is mandatory for private fire departments.
Joe Margetiak, the assistant Toledo-area director for OSHA, said the agency only has the ability to regulate private companies unless a state chooses to also adopt the mandates for public entities and Ohio does not have such a state plan through the agency itself. Currently, 28 states have these state plans, which mean 28 states have local governments abide by the same employment standards OSHA requires.
However, the Ohio Public Employment Risk Reduction Program — the equivalent of OSHA for public workers — has adopted the OSHA standard of “two in/two out” just like NFPA, meaning the department must follow them or face ramifications if things go awry.
Ritenauer said the grant doesn’t solve all the city’s woes, but it is welcomed.
Ritenauer’s revenue proposals included several short- and long-term solutions, including the proposed fire levy, making changes to the city’s trash collection to make it more cost-effective, reducing the city’s income tax credit, charging for street lights, raising income tax rates and changing income tax collection from the city treasurer’s office to the Regional Income Tax Agency to save money.
“There are several ideas currently on the table but we have to pick the combination that’s best for our city moving forward,” Ritenauer said. “There’s a lot of work that can be done in the next two years to make sure we don’t hit this position again.”
The Finance and Claims Committee is expected to discuss Ritenauer’s proposals at a meeting Tuesday night.