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Fountain pauses staffing for new Fire Station 4 pending SAFER grant; council approves design fees
Summary
Fountain City Council approved payment of roughly $400,000 in architectural invoices for Fire Station 4 but removed language authorizing eight new firefighter positions and paused hiring decisions until federal SAFER grant results expected in September; vote was unanimous.
Fountain City Council on June 16 approved an amended budget resolution to pay remaining architectural and design invoices for Fire Station 4 while delaying a decision to hire new firefighting staff until the outcome of a federal SAFER grant is known.
Chief Graham told the council he recommended pausing the staffing portion of the project. "I would recommend that we put a pause on the consideration of the staffing piece of firehouse four," he said, noting the department’s SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant application is due June 22 and awards are typically announced in late September. He said waiting for the grant decision could delay the station opening by roughly three months but could reduce the city’s personnel cost exposure.
Council removed three sections of the proposed resolution that had authorized eight new full‑time sworn positions and an associated staffing cost of $1,131,732, and instead approved the measure solely to cover architectural and design fees. Chief Graham said design work is largely complete and invoices totaling “right about $400,000” are coming due.
Councilmember Gordon Rick moved to approve Resolution 26‑032 as amended; the motion passed on a 7‑0 voice vote. The amendment allows the city to continue building and design work now while staff returns to the council in October with an update on the SAFER grant outcome and any revised staffing recommendation.
The action is limited to the design and related payments; no new hires were authorized at this meeting. Staff will report back after the federal grant decision and the council may revisit station staffing if the SAFER award does not cover the requested positions.
