Brighton fire board talks grant applications at first meeting

BRIGHTON — Township, city and fire department representatives met Thursday night for the first assembly of the Brighton Fire Advisory Board. The body was formed after the city council and firefighters reached a compromise in March over disputes that had many volunteers threatening to quit.

At the group’s inaugural meeting, members focused mainly on whether or not to apply for grant funding from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation. Fire Chief Bill Farmer said the funds would be key to a $250,000 new building across from the fire station to house emergency rescue equipment needed for ice, water and grain bin operations.

Brighton City Council representative Cathy Rich said she was hesitant about hastily committing city dollars for a grant match. She said other expenses, like new fire firefighter gear and potential vehicle repairs might trade off with the city allocations needed.

“We also need to look at future needs,” she said. “What do we have left for future needs? Is it enough? Is it not enough? … I know a building sounds really nice, but is it necessary, considering property tax relief that’s going to be going on? I don’t know what the city’s going to be getting for taxes, I don’t know what you townships are going to be getting for taxes.”

Dutch Creek Township representative Dan Luers said he agreed with the need for more information, but thought the department should apply anyway.

“I think it makes a lot of sense to apply, there’s probably no harm in applying,” he said. “We just need to know the numbers. That’s how we run our business, and without that, I hear all the noise and moving parts, and there’s a lot of those, but at the end of the day, to make a good economic decision, I think we need to understand what we’re working with.”

Fire Chief Bill Farmer said he was less worried about the budget, citing decent expected life spans for current equipment and $25,000 already pledged from the firemen’s association, a nonprofit associated with the department.

He said the city and department would gather precise estimates of anticipated expenses for the foreseeable future, and reconvene the board before Riverboat grant application season begins Aug. 1.

“We’ll come up with some numbers,” he said. “We’ve got a little time.”

Firefighter Mark Cobb, who is also a member of the Washington County Riverboat Foundation Board, attended the meeting as an observing member of the public. He said the city should strike while the iron was hot, demonstrating newfound unity between the city and its department to get the nonprofit affiliate’s attention.

“Because of the attention that was brought to the Brighton situation, I really, truly believe that the Riverboat Foundation board would put forward a grant,” he said. “I agree with Cathy that the proper way to do it would be to look at the finances, but I also think that the time is right to apply for the grant … given what went on in Brighton and the attention that was brought as a result of that, different members of that board have come up to me and said, ‘Surely you guys have got some need for something.’”

The trailer of rescue equipment is currently housed in an unheated city building across town from the fire station. Volunteers said the location delayed emergency response times, especially in the winter when the interior fell below 0 degrees.

“When it’s down at the city shed, the timeline that it takes for us to arrive here to pick up our primary gear, then go to the city shed and extract that trailer out of a cold building … can mean the difference between life and death,” he said.

Richland Township advisory board representative Dale Morgan said the department had no way to store that equipment in its current facility, and that the problem would only get worse with time. The fire department paid slightly extra for custom modifications to its most recent firetruck in order to make if fit inside the current building.

“We’re running out of room back here, trucks aren’t getting any smaller,” he said.

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