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Commissioners approve $1.3 million in emergency services grants; cistern request set aside for study
Summary
The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners approved $1,301,697.23 in Emergency Services Grant awards to 13 local fire protection districts, while asking staff to study a separate $300,000-plus cistern proposal before approving it as a grant-funded project.
Boulder County commissioners on Feb. 11 approved $1,301,697.23 in awards recommended by the Emergency Services Grant Program Advisory Committee to support equipment, station improvements and other needs for mountain and rural fire protection districts.
The grants cover a total of 13 projects the advisory committee recommended from the fall 2024 grant cycle, committee staff said. The projects include purchases ranging from medical equipment and personal protective gear to vehicle replacements, radio and communications upgrades, and capital work on aging stations.
“Twice a year, the advisory committee reviews grant applications from eligible organizations as outlined in the emergency sales and use tax ballot language,” Barb Halpin, staff liaison to the Emergency Services Grant Program Advisory Committee, told commissioners. Halpin said the tax measure was approved by Boulder County voters in 2022 as Ballot Measure 1B.
Halpin said the advisory committee also considered a fourteenth request: an in-ground water cistern in the county’s southwest quadrant with an estimated cost “over $300,000.” Staff and several stakeholders including the Boulder County Firefighters Association and the sheriff’s office advised additional countywide, strategic discussion before committing emergency-sales-tax funds to cistern construction. Halpin recommended additional study of countywide cistern needs, priority locations and suitable funding sources before approving the Timberline Fire Protection District proposal.
Commissioners praised the advisory group and the voter-approved funding stream. One commissioner said the grants have been “a game changer” for volunteer and rural departments that must maintain costly equipment and training on small tax bases.
After discussion, the board approved the committee’s funding recommendations for the 13 grants while leaving the cistern request out of the approved package for further assessment.
Commissioners asked staff to continue outreach and public education about the new emergency-sales-tax-funded program so residents can see the concrete results of the ballot measure for mountain-area emergency services.
Votes at a glance: The motion to approve the Emergency Services Grant Program Advisory Committee funding recommendations in the amount of $1,301,697.23 passed on a roll-call voice vote; all commissioners present voted in favor.
Staff will return with additional analysis and recommendations on the proposed cistern concept and on broader cistern strategy and funding options for the county’s mountain and rural fire protection districts.
