Grant adds two new Moses Lake firefighters

by Brad W. Gary<br>Herald Staff Writer
| October 12, 2005 9:00 PM

Homeland Security awards $200,000 grant to increase staff

MOSES LAKE — A few more fire fighters will be added to the paid staff of the Moses Lake Fire Department next year, thanks to $200,000 in grant funds awarded to the department this month.

The five-year grant awarded from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is the second grant for the department in as many months, and MLFD Interim Chief Tom Taylor said in a recent interview that the money will help bring paid staff at the department up to 29.

"It allows a lot more flexibility on our operations," Taylor said, "It will also help decrease the amount of overtime spent."

The City of Moses Lake was one of 22 agencies in the country to receive the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, and the only jurisdiction to receive such funding in the Northwest. The department was notified of the grant last week, and it was formally accepted by the Moses Lake City Council at their meeting Tuesday night.

Under the parameters of the grant, Taylor said the two firefighter/paramedic positions will be partially paid by the Department of Homeland Security on a declining scale over a five-year period and the city will pick up the entire cost of the two positions on the fifth year.

As the responsibilities and risks of the department continue to increase, Taylor said, these two positions will continue to better assesses those risks and responsibilities. The department will start recruiting for the two positions within the next month, and hope to hire the firefighter/paramedic personnel after the first of the year.

The grant is similar to one awarded to the Moses Lake Police Department in the 1990s, Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavniski told the council Tuesday night.

At Tuesday's council meeting:

? The council approved allowing the Boys and Girls Club to use McCosh Park later this month for a Harvest Festival. The club will be using the park Oct. 28-29.

? Council members unanimously approved acceptance of a Department of Homeland Security grant giving a thermal imager to the Moses Lake Police Department. The imager senses heat in searches for missing or wanted persons and has a retail value of $15,000.

? The council authorized a bid award to Pipe Experts, LLC in the amount of $90,821.50 for the city's 2005 sewer cleaning project.

? The council heard from Grant County Public Utility District Manager Tim Culbertson on recent industrial rate adoption, Priest Rapid Project relicensing and other issues impacting the PUD.