After Slashing Positions, IA Department to Hire Firefighters

Dec. 8—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa City Council overwhelmingly approved of reinstating a portion of the staff at the fire department, as it voted unanimously to hire three full-time firefighters.

Two years ago, the city cut six firefighters, or 20% of the staff, because of budget constraints, but a heavy increase in overtime pay has made it a necessity to bring back part of the staff.

Fire chief Tony Miller was appreciative the council took the steps to hire the firefighters, but said he will continue to seek out grants that could raise those levels more.

"I knew a couple years ago that cutting the department was going to have a low morale effect on the city," he said. "The overtime bill is $350,000, and hiring three personnel would be cheaper than that."

Miller said three firefighters are on extended leave and "I don't know when they're coming back. I hope they come back, but there's a couple that might not be coming back." He also said house fires Friday and Saturday stretched his personnel in terms of overtime.

The chief also encouraged the city to pursue the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant.

"Since 2014, seven of our comparable cities have gotten the SAFER grant," Miller said. "There's no use reinventing the wheel here, but when you start hiring fire guys and you start expanding your services, that grant goes away really quick.

"If we write that grant in February, we won't have an answer until late fall. It's open for five or six weeks," he said. "That's just how it works. It's probably the most competitive grant with $345 million in the account. That's a lot of money."

Miller was pleased there is a good list of public safety candidates waiting in the wings, but usually "it's the other way around."

"We've been losing people, and we can't sustain the overtime," he said. "We're at a crossroads with the fire department. Hiring three absolutely won't solve the overtime problem, but it'll cut it way, way down."

In other business:

—The council unanimously appointed Russ Hull to fill the remainder of Bob Meyers's term. Hull, who finished fourth in the city-school election last month, will be on the council until 2023, when that seat comes up for re-election. Meyers's resignation from the council takes effect Dec. 31.

Hull's appointment will give the council four new council members in January, joining Sandra Pope, Doug McAntire and Cara Galloway; Pope was the top vote-getter in November and has already been seated because the seat formerly held by Skip Stevens was filled by appointment.

— Chad Drury can be reached at [email protected], and on Twitter @ChadDrury

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