City leaders will not accept a federal grant that would have defrayed the cost of hiring six full-time firefighter paramedics for three years.
Only one councilman, Ron D’Epifanio, was in favor of accepting the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
Awarded in September, the grant would have reimbursed the city 75 percent of the cost of the firefighters each of the first two years and 35 percent in the third year.
Beginning with Year 4 and thereafter, the entire cost for the firefighters would become the city’s responsibility.
“It was not something we could afford,’’ said Councilman Tim Abbott, who chairs the city’s Finance and Budget Committee. City Manager Mark Wendling said the city had the money to pay the additional firefighters for the first year once the grant expired.