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Norfolk council approves FEMA grant to fund cardiovascular screenings for Fire Rescue members
Summary
The Norfolk City Council adopted an ordinance to accept up to $352,710.90 in federal grant funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA to support cardiovascular health screenings and awareness for Fire Rescue personnel, with a required local match of $35,271.10.
Norfolk City Council on Monday adopted an ordinance to accept and appropriate up to $352,710.90 in federal grant funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency to support cardiovascular health screenings and awareness for Norfolk Fire Rescue members, and allocated $35,271.10 in previously appropriated local funds as a cash match for the program.
The funding was approved as an amendment to the city’s FY2025 annual appropriations ordinance (No. 49 5 90). The ordinance states the grant and local match will be used for a program described in the ordinance and that the project funds will be accepted “if and when received.” Council voted unanimously to adopt the measure.
The vote followed a public comment from Lawrence Brown, who spoke on behalf of Norfolk Professional Firefighters Local 68 and urged rapid implementation. Brown told the council that in recent studies cancer and cardiovascular disease are leading causes of death among firefighters and said screening is essential. He said, “cardiac disease being the second leading cause of death for the men and women in the fire service,” and asked the council and legal staff to “push this through as fast as we can so we can make sure that we're catching these with this screening.”
The ordinance language in the meeting record specifies the grant amount, the local match amount and that the funds will be appropriated to the FY2025 budget and added to the city’s annual grants plan. The action was recorded as an amendment to the FY2025 appropriations ordinance and included the usual clause that the project is funded “if and when received.”
Vote at a glance: Councilmembers Clanton, Doyle, Johnson, McGee, Page, Smigiel, Thomas and Alexander voted Aye. No Nay votes or abstentions were recorded in the roll call recorded in the transcript.
The ordinance’s text in the meeting includes the grant source (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the stated local match; the transcript records the acceptance and appropriation but notes the project funds are to be received before expenditure.
