BROCKTON — A stimulus grant will help boost the Fire Department staff in the short term.
“The award is great,” Fire Chief Kenneth Galligan said Monday when Gov. Deval Patrick announced that Brockton would get $340,624 to hire four firefighters and pay some overtime.
But, the award is far less than the $851,560 Galligan had requested and it will take time to hire and train the new firefighters.
The money comes from $17.8 million in federal stimulus funds released by Patrick this week to hire 83 police officers and 105 firefighters in local departments across the state. It is the first of police grants and the second round of awards to fire departments.
Plymouth, Rockland, Stoughton, Middleboro, Lakeville, Bridgewater, Kingston, Easton and Carver also received money for firefighters. Lakeville, Wareham, Bridgewater, Kingston and Raynham received money for police hiring or overtime.
The Brockton legislative delegation asked Patrick to help the Fire Department after it was hit hard in the current fiscal budget. Though the jobs targeted for layoffs were retained in the end, the department gave up some overtime money and still suffers from staff reductions that occurred in past years through attrition.
Galligan said the department is down 27 firefighters and one fire alarm operator. There are 169 uniformed firefighters right now.
“The department is at bare bones right now,” Galligan said. “If we lose any more, we cannot support the nine companies we now have in the city.”
Pleased to be getting even a portion of the $851,560 he requested, Galligan said he will have to study the particulars before spending it.
“Obviously I’m not going to put four new firefighters on the trucks tomorrow,” he said. It will take several months to hire and train new staff, and he estimates it will be June before the new firefighters could start. Since the grant runs out in November 2010, he hopes to get started soon.
While he has the option of putting on firefighters who were laid off by other departments, he said they must meet certain requirements, including the residency requirement. That means anyone hired must move to the city within a year.
Galligan said next year’s budget, predicted to be even tighter than this year’s, will also come into play.
Ward 3 Councilor Dennis Eaniri said it appears that the grant will be of little help.
“I agree with the chief,” he said. “Where’s the gain?”
In Middleboro, two firefighters will be saved from the ax with the infusion of a $134,078 from the grant. Middleboro Fire Chief Lance Benjamino said that while he only got half the amount he was looking for, “I’m immensely relieved.”
Benjamino said the money will stave off the impending lay off of firefighters Alan Deane and Joseph Gallant.
Bridgewater Chief of Police Thomas Murphy said he plans to use the money to pay for overtime.
On using the money to hire officers, the year-long time limit may also pose a problem, said Raynham Police Chief Louis J. Pacheco.
Pacheco said it’s not easy to train several officers during that time period.
“You could get a lateral transfer that was already trained,” he said.
