Mayor Edward Swanson says the city is proceeding with caution on the $490,748 SAFER grant announced on Dec. 31 that would cover salaries and benefits to rehire the firefighters for two years.
The firefighters fell victim to budget cuts in July of last year as the city trimmed spending by $3 million. Both were veterans -- one with nine years and the other with four years with the department.
"We haven’t accepted it yet," Swanson told the newspaper. "It seems nice to bring firefighters back, but there could be ramifications. Like my mother used to say, 'there's no such thing as a free lunch.' "
Upon receiving word of the grant, firefighters were excited, since they initially believed they had a 10 percent chance of being selected.
"Holy cow, we just won the lottery," Firefighter John Morgan, who submitted the grant with firefighters Matthew Dwyer and Kevin Powers, told the newspaper.
They hope their local officials will approve the grant.
"Those two layoffs really affected how we operate," Powers said. "Losing two people doesn't sound like a lot, but it is on a medical run or fire call."
City Manager Jon Austin told the newspaper that a decision could come as soon as Monday, but that the grant comes with conditions that could council members some pause.
The grant doesn't cover overtime costs and the city will be required to maintain its staffing levels for the next two years and could lose the remainder of the grant if it fails to.
Last year, a SAFER grant was turned down by Cleveland Heights, Ohio after elected officials there were wary of losing the option to lay off employees in uncertain economic times.
