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Committee moves FEMA SCBA grant and public‑works retention reduction to full Board
Summary
The committee forwarded a FEMA grant to replace firefighters' breathing apparatus and an ordinance to reduce construction payment retention from 10% to 5% to the full Board, with technical edits and requests for procurement and scheduling follow‑up.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee moved three operational items to the full Board: a Fire Department request to accept a FEMA grant to replace self‑contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs), a Department of Public Works ordinance aligning city retention policy with state law, and companion budget/technical edits.
Fire Department representatives said the FEMA grant award is $1,514,184 (80% federal) toward a roughly $3 million project that combines other federal homeland security funds to fully replace SCBA inventory with equipment meeting current NFPA/NIOSH standards. Chief training and safety staff described safety upgrades — including an integrated personal alert system, air‑level displays and CBRN capability — and said procurement will proceed after full Board authorization.
The Department of Public Works described an ordinance to reduce contract progress‑payment retention from 10% to 5% (consistent with SB 293) starting at contract commencement to improve small contractors’ cash flow; contractors in public comment supported the change. The committee made minor technical amendments to the grant resolution (remove the word 'retroactivity' and correct the grant amount) and forwarded both items to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
Next steps: The Fire Department will finalize grant acceptance and procurement; DPW will prepare the ordinance for Board consideration.
