City Council members are poised to accept a $561,202 federal grant to hire four firefighters after discussing the subject for 45 minutes on Monday night.
Four council members plan to support accepting the Staffing for an Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant when the vote is expected to come up at next Monday’s meeting.
After the meeting, Councilman Mark C. Walczyk said he plans to vote for the grant, leaving only Mayor Joseph M. Butler Jr. as the only expected no vote.
Mayor Butler insisted that the grant will only save the city in the short term, then drive up costs after the funding expires in three years.
“We’ve been working on a small department and we’ve got that and now you want to go back,” he said.
In recent years, the department has gone through a series of a retirements and long-term illnesses, leaving the actual current operational number at 63, down from 67 just a couple of years ago. The city has not filled the vacancies.