HOULTON, Maine — The town has submitted paperwork asking for additional federal grant funding to finance replacement of an old municipal firetruck after the community did not receive the amount initially requested.
Last month, representatives of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ and U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s offices informed town officials that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had awarded Houlton a $333,334 federal grant to help buy a new pumper tanker for the Houlton Fire Department.
Nancy Ketch, the town’s economic and community development director, told town councilors during their meeting on Monday night that the town had asked for $376,000 from FEMA. The town expected to throw in 5 percent in matching funds to buy a new pumper truck for $395,000 to replace a 36-year-old rig that the fire department scrapped and sold for parts.
Ketch said that the FEMA grant review panel had approved the purchase of the new truck, but for some reason only awarded $333,334.
Ketch told councilors that she talked with officials at FEMA and submitted an amendment asking for reinstatement of the full amount, which would bring in an additional $42,857 for the truck. She told councilors in response to questioning that no reason was given to her as to why the town’s full request was turned down.
Ketch said that the individual she spoke to at the federal level on Monday recommended approval of the additional funding, but she said that the town likely won’t find out the end result for another week.
The funds are awarded through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, which was created to help provide money for fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations so they can buy equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources to better protect the public and emergency personnel.
If the $333,334 award amount remains the same, the five percent match from the town would be $16,663, according to Ketch. If the town gets the additional funding, Ketch speculated that the town would have to kick in approximately $18,809.
