East Liverpool Fire Department to increase in size with addition of four firefighters and second ambulance. (Photo courtesy of East Liverpool Fire Department)

EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool City Council with a unanimous vote approved the East Liverpool Fire Department to accept the SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant they were recently awarded through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), during Monday’s council meeting.

The fire department was hoping to hire one more firefighter to bring them from 14 firefighters to the 15 covered in their budget.

With the grant the fire department will be able to hire three additional firefighters in addition to the one and add a second ambulance bringing them to a total of 18.

Fire Chief Antony Cumo said this is going to be very important to everyone especially with call volume for the department increasing by 424% in the 11 years that he has been with the department while staffing has only increased by 15%. He also noted that this will put the department at its highest staffing level in decades.

“It’s going to be a challenge to find the right people and hopefully we will get them sooner rather than later,” Cumo said on finding the four additional firefighters.

He is hoping to have them in place by the first of the year. There is a deadline of March 18 for which they have to be hired by, or they lose the grant.

The department does have a list of candidates that have taken the Civil Service Test, and the physical agility test they can hire from.

“The goal is going to be to hire some people that are trained and qualified and then we might take on one or two that don’t have the training,” Cumo said. That will be at the beginning of the year, and we will be able to get some of these people those training by spring for the basics of what they need.”

Cumo also noted that having the new firefighters will help while he has others going through an 11-month paramedic training.

It will also relieve the current firefighters from the overtime they have been working. Cumo noted that within the past month he had one firefighter who worked six shifts in a row and even though they are young its not really safe for them or the community and the firefighters are experiencing burn out.

“The sooner we start it the sooner we start saving money.” Cumo said.

Cumo said they were excited to get the over $600,000 grant and he really didn’t think they would as the department has been trying for this grant for more than 15 years.

Cumo noted that he believes only three percent of the fire departments that applied received a grant and that this is the least amount of money they have had to hand out since it started making this the tightest race they have had for the grant. East Liverpool is one of only five departments in Ohio to receive the grant.

The extra firefighters will help the department save a great deal of money by reducing overtime and allow the department to generate additional revenue by being able to respond to more calls with the second ambulance. Cumo said the second ambulance could even be used outside the city to help neighboring areas and generate more revenue.

The department dropped 154 calls last year that they could not respond to due to one ambulance and staffing.

“This is a huge morale boost for the department. I can’t say enough for how much they busted their butts, because there are a lot of days, they could not have picked up overtime, and the ambulance could have been closed down. They have beat themselves to keep it open. That is how much the guys want to make this work,” Cumo said.

Cumo has no doubt that before the grant term is over the grant will pay for itself and he will be able to sustain the additional firefighters through the department’s budget.

The SAFER Grant cost shares the salaries for three additional firefighters for the first three years with the city being responsible for 25% ($48,000) of the salaries in the first year and the second year at $49,000; and 65% ($130,000) in the third year. Cumo noted that the costs are estimated, and they could be slightly higher or lower depending on the benefits.

Cumo said multiple times that he could not stress how much money this grant would save the department and the city.

Cumo also said the department’s new ambulance would arrive Oct. 24.

Council Member Brian Kerr said he wanted to commend the department for the service they put in and noted that when many people think of the fire department, they think of fires but not the community service the department puts in. He also said it was a big benefit to add the extra ambulance and the new firefighters and that it would benefit the tax and all residents and be able to help save lives in not just the East Liverpool community but in other communities around the city and that it is a win-win situation.

Council Member Jeff Kreefer said that since he retired from the department, it has progressed in many ways, and he encouraged all council members to approve the legislation for the grant.

Council Member and Finance Committee Chair gave a recap of last Tuesday’s finance meeting.

Safety Service Director Bill Jones said that he had met with Mayor Bobby Smith to run through different scenarios for the storm sewer behind Hissom’s and thinks they might have a working solution but would have to talk to a couple of contractors first.

Jones also said he was proud of Cumo for getting the grant and supportive of him.

Smith expressed his thanks to the fire, police and water department for their service to the city. He echoed the excitement and comments made by others in regard to the grant for the fire department.

Smith noted that the city has received a very generous donation from a former resident who wishes to remain anonymous. The donation was provided to support kids and people projects. The funds have already helped supply cleaning materials for a Boy Scout to earn work on his Eagle Award by cleaning revolutionary headstones at the Riverview Cemetery. It will be used to pay for the Revolutionary War Monument the city is working on putting in on Sixth and Broadway streets. Smith said the money will be put towards small projects.

Smith also said that an unnamed group has expressed interest in taking over the pool at Thompson Park and they were in talks regarding that.

During the public portion of the meeting resident Billy Ash said the Veteran Banner Program has been gaining volunteers but they could use more. Anyone interested in helping can call the VFW, the American Legion or the Elks and leave their name and number. The banners will be taken down Nov. 15-16 and put back up in the spring if there are enough volunteers to help.

Ash also said the Veterans Day parade will be held on Nov. 11 in downtown East Liverpool at 11 a.m.

Council approved five other pieces of legislation; a resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the Budget Commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and ordinances to amend the budget ordinance by adjusting appropriations; authorizing the auditor to pay certain vendors; authorizing the Board of Public Utilities to enter into a task order pursuant to the agreement for technical service dated April 17, 2025 with Strand Associates and a zoning change.

The request for the zoning change was made by Council Member Tom Beagle who abstained from the vote. The ordinance changes the zoning classification from a B-2 Community Shopping Center to B-1 Neighborhood Business for a lot located on Minnesota Avenue.

There was no unfinished business and no correspondence

The Licensing Committee will meet on the third Wednesday of November, and the Finance Committee will meet on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. Both meetings will take place in council chambers.

The East Liverpool City Council meets the first Monday of each Month at 6 p.m. in council chambers at East Liverpool City Hall. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 3.

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com