SOFD to Receive County Board Approved Grant Funds

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis.--The Southern Ozaukee Fire Department will receive $240,000 after the County Board unanimously passed a $1.2 million grant of its allotted $5 million that was established through American Rescue Act Plan Funds or (ARPA) to support the hiring of up to 18 fire paramedic positions within the county. 

The main goals of the  Emergency Management Systems Grant Program is to improve emergency response times within seven minutes and to ensure that the positions supported by the grant are able to be financially sustainable beyond the three-year grant term when the county’s ARPA funds are no longer available, said County Board information.

Every municipality was eligible for up to $200,000, and those municipalities that operate in tandem with other county fire departments were eligible for an additional $100,000 in the first year of the three-year program. These funds financially assist fire departments to recruit and retain fire paramedic personnel.

“The recommendation of the County Administrator’s Office is the the (Public Safety) Committee fund only the EMS positions that will be sustainable beyond the life of the grant program for the first 12 months and until the submission of formal sustainability plans by May 1 of 2023,” according to information by Ozaukee County Administrator Jason Dzwinel.

Grant funds were awarded to municipalities in the following amounts:

• City of Mequon and Village of Thiensville, $240,000, with a sustainability plan to hire three fire paramedics
• Villages of Grafton and Saukville, $300,000, with a sustainability to fund three paramedics to the joint fire department
• Villages of Fredonia and Belgium, $225,000, sustainability plan assumes full municipal funding
• City of Port Washington, $200,000, the plan from the city assumes the EMS services will be reduced by one full-time employee due to retirement, which is said to impact response times.
• City of Cedarburg, $200,000, the sustainability plan is to set a referendum to exceed levy limits for Emergency Management Service positions. Cedarburg is also in discussions with adjacent fire departments about a possible consolidation.

According to the application submitted by Southern Ozaukee Fire Department, the newly combined departments of Thiensville and Mequon, the total request amount tallied $1.8 million with a matching allocation of $7,615,000, for a total project cost of $9,415,000. The amounts funded each year would be split evenly at $600,000 over three years.

Southern Ozaukee Fire Department officials stated these positions “will allow for the consistent staffing of two full-time paramedic firefighters in the first year of the five-year SOFD plan. These two positions, one SOFD funded and one grant funded will ensure that one staffed ambulance with two providers will be available to the SOFD response area in 2023.”

Transitioning to a full-time staffing model from a non-station based paid-per-call members will reduce response times because they can leave the station immediately, SOFD officials said. Using the current system, the ambulance cannot leave until the whole crew has responded to the station first.