Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10366RESOLUTION NO. 10366 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION FOR A GRANT TO THE "ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM" AND AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO EXECUTE SAME WHEREAS, the city of Pueblo supports the acquisition of equipment to facilitate the safe and efficient firefighting operations by the Pueblo Fire Department, it authorizes the grant application to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: SECTION 1. The grant application to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the acquisition of equipment is hereby approved. The President of the City Council is authorized to file the grant application in the name of the City. SECTION 2. Acceptance of the Grant and appropriation of matching funds from the Grant Matching Funds Account in the general fund will be brought to City Council by separate Ordinance. INTRODUCED April 11, 2005 BY Jeff Chostner Councilperson APPROVED: PRES1DENT 9F CITY C IL ATTESTED BY: CITY CLERK Background Paper for Proposed RESOLUTION 1&0.,4 103(d� AGENDA ITEM # J DATE: April 11, 2005 DEPARTMENT: FIRE DEPARTMENT -GREG MILLER TITLE A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION FOR A GRANT TO THE "ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM" AND AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO EXECUTE SAME. ISSUE This is an application for a grant administered by FEMA. If the grant is awarded, the acceptance of the grant and appropriation of matching funds will be brought to City Council by separate Ordinance RECOMMENDATION Approval to apply for the Assistance to Firefighter Grant. BACKGROUND The City is applying for approximately $43,840.00 in Federal dollars for the acquisition of emergency generator systems that would provide emergency power to Fire Station #1 and Fire Station #8. FINANCIAL IMPACT The grant requires a 20% cash match. Based on our anticipated grant amount of $43,840.00, the match would be $10,960.00 for a total amount of $54,800.00. Matching funds will come from the Grant Matching Fund account in the general fund. Narrative Statement Narrative Statement Page 1 of 1 Project Description ` Please provide your narrative statement in the space provided below. Include in your narrative, details regarding (1) your projects description and budget, (2) your organization's financial need, (3) the benefit to be derived from the cost of your project, and (4) how the activities requested in your application will help your organization's daily operations and how this grant will protect life and property. Our request is in the category of "Station Modifications ". We are requesting funds to enable our department to equip two of our stations and our administrative office with a fixed backup generator system. We currently serve a population of 103,000 people and are an active participant in the fire County South Region for the State of Cob. During our recent Homeland Security Risk Assessment and subsequent disaster planning activities, it became apparent that one of our most significant risks would be the loss of power for an extended period. An extended power outage would severely hinder our ability to respond from our main station and to remain functional at our administrative office. During the All- Hazards and CBRNE Evaluation of our region, it became apparent that many natural events would severely hamper our response capacity. The City of Pueblo is dissected by two main rivers and in the event of a flood portions of the city would be unreachable from one side to the other. We have a major reservoir located approximately four miles upstream from our downtown section and much of the city would be inundated in the event of a dam failure due to natural causes or a terrorist event. During our tabletop exercises concerning the flooding effects of a dam failure, the amount of time before the water reached our downtown section was only a few minutes. This lack of pre- notification and response time points to the severity of the event. This type of flooding would immediately affect thousands of people in the path of the rising water. Although the dam is outside of the two-mile area to be considered for a CBRNE scenario, our research has shown that the dam failure would be a major catastrophe. When the reservoir is at capacity it holds 270,000 acre -feet of water, enough to generate massive downstream damage. While we feel that the risk for such an event is low, this scenario generated further discussion as to what would happen if the city lost power for an extended period. To compicate matters, our dispatch center is located in the flood plain of the Arkansas River. Although the county also has a dispatch center that can be used in the event our center is compromised, it too, is located in the same flood plain. Additionally the EOC is also located in the same building as the county dispatch center. To help alleviate these situations, we are in the process of installing a back -up dispatch center at our administrative office complete with console and remote dispatching capabilities. We also plan on using this location for our EOC if the main site is disabled. Presently the city is in the process of puling a fiber -optic fine that will assure our ample capacity for continued dispatching. This Office and Station 8 are located in the same building complex and this building is kxWed on one of the highest elevations in the city. This elevated location would allow us to continue dispatching our mobile units even if the main dispatch center Is compromised. The only draw -back to our plan was the lack of aRemate power source. We have requested a 25KW Generator for this location. A generator of this capacity would be suitable to supply both the office and the station. This generator would be powered by natural gas that is utilized as the fuel source presently. Our main station houses a pumper, heavy rescue, ladder truck, haz -mat and a chief officer. The station is large enough to house additional personnel and equipment. If we were to have a back -up power source, we could transfer some of the outside companies to our main station and continue our response. We have requested a 50KW generator for this location and it will also be fueled by natural gas that is already supplied to the site. This generator has been sized to completely supply the station's needs. We feel that we could remain functional for an indefinite amount of time as long as we could power the station. We are in the process of developing a comprehensive All-Hazards Disaster Plan for the city. Part of this planning includes evaluating the amount of basic resources such as food, water purification, basic supplies, etc. and ensuring these items are in place. To afford our citizens and personnel greater safety and response capabilities we desperately need the generating systems that we have requested. In closing, we appreciate your time and diligence in reviewing our proposal and hope that you will appreciate our dire needs and help us resolve our difficulties. Please describe any grants that you currently have with DHS including the AFG, for example, 2002 AFG grant for vehicle or 2003 ODP grant for exercises. (Enter "WA" if Not Applicable) WA https: / /portal.fema.govlfiregmtlj sp/ fire2005 lapplicationlnafative.jsp ?view= print&print =tr... 4/1/2005