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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
 Posted - 11/21/2009 : 09:38:03 AM
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DOYLE, John A. Jack "Red" Of Everett, Nov. 20. Beloved husband of Elizabeth M. (Courtney) and loving father of Beth Doyle of Worcester, Kathy and her husband Denny Colbert of Manomet, Trisha and her husband Jack Ford of Everett. Brother of William of Wilmington, and Eleanor Hall of Malden. Loving Grampy of Courtney, Daniel, Joseph, Connor, Shannon, and Jordan. Funeral from the Murphy O'Hara Funeral Home, 519 Broadway, EVERETT on Monday at 9am, followed by a Funeral Mass in the Immaculate Conception Church at 10am. Visiting hours on Sunday from 4 to 7pm. Army Veteran Korean Conflict, Supervisor for 42 years for The Mystic Valley Gas and Electric, and former Archivist for the City of Everett. Murphy O'Hara Funeral Home Everett 617-387-0506
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Senior Member
117 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 08:04:43 AM
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Police, fire get $5.5m in stimulus funds
A stimulus round brings $5.5m here
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | December 10, 2009
An infusion of $5.5 million in federal stimulus money is providing a boost to area cities and towns struggling to meet their public safety staffing needs.
The funding recently awarded by the state will pay for hiring, rehiring, and retaining local police officers and firefighters, and to help departments meet overtime and per diem costs associated with maintaining shift levels.
“We’re very grateful to have received the money,’’ said Salem Police Chief Paul F. Tucker, whose department plans to hire a new officer with the $69,478 it was awarded.
“We are 18 positions short right now from where we were five years ago,’’ he said, calling the addition of a new officer “a small step in the right direction.’’
Statewide, 35 police departments were awarded $6.2 million and 85 fire departments $11.6 million. In this region, 10 police departments will get a combined $1.1 million, while 22 fire departments will receive $4.4 million.
The police award is through the US Justice Department’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program. It follows $15.8 million in stimulus funds the federal agency awarded through that program to 147 Massachusetts municipalities earlier this year, and $28.9 million in stimulus money the state awarded in August to 13 communities through the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services program.
Departments receiving money in this region are Chelsea, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Revere, Salem, and West Newbury.
The fire money is coming from discretionary funds Governor Deval Patrick set aside for the purpose. Local recipients are Andover, Beverly, Billerica, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Danvers, Dracut, Everett, Gloucester, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Methuen, Peabody, Revere, Saugus, Tewksbury, and Winthrop.
In a previous first round of the fire funding, the state in October awarded a combined $8.3 million to 15 fire departments, including Lawrence and Methuen.
Lowell Fire Chief Edward Pitta said his department’s recent $518,567 award “will be very helpful to us.’’
The department had applied for about $703,000 to replace nine firefighters who retired last fiscal year and whose positions were not filled due to budget constraints this fiscal year. While the actual award was less, Pitta said it is enough to fill six or seven of the jobs, providing sufficient staffing to keep an additional truck on line for most shifts. Currently, the department on a rotating basis removes up to three trucks per shift depending on staffing that day.
“The more trucks that are in service, the safer for everyone,’’ said Pitta, who hopes to have new hires start within the next month. (Those new hires who have not attended the state’s firefighting academy would need to enroll in the next available class).
The Chelsea Police Department plans to hire an additional officer with its $89,833 stimulus award. The funding follows the department’s receipt of $755,892 in stimulus money in October through the federal COPS program, which allowed the city to save the jobs of two officers targeted for layoffs and to fill one officer vacancy.
“We’re extremely pleased,’’ Police Chief Brian Kyes said of the latest award, calling it “an important step toward our goal of a 100-person department.’’ Chelsea, which now has 96 officers, has set that goal based on its population and crime trends.
Revere Fire Chief Eugene Doherty said he expects the department to hire three additional firefighters and to shore up its overtime with the $297,240 it was awarded.
The city had applied for $395,000, enough to fill five vacant firefighter jobs and a vacant administrative position, and to supplement the overtime budget. Doherty said while the actual award would only likely cover the three firefighter hirings and the added overtime, he welcomes it.
“It really bails us out,’’ he said, noting it will allow the city to reduce its need to rotate trucks off line due to staffing constraints.
Doherty is hopeful the city can secure additional federal funds to retain the three new jobs after the award expires, and possibly to add others. But if not, he expects pending retirements would allow room in his budget to avoid laying off anyone hired now.
The Lawrence Fire Department received $198,272 after being awarded $537,033 in the first round of fire funding.
The city used the initial award to retain eight firefighters then in the process of being laid off. Fire Chief Peter Takvorian said the latest award would shore up the department’s overtime budget, which could enable it to open one of its two currently closed neighborhood stations.
And he said if $271,000 in city supplemental funds earlier designated for the fire department is released, some of the stimulus could all be used to rehire two laid-off workers - a fire alarm dispatcher and a fire alarm electrician.
“This absolutely is a big help for us,’’ Takvorian said of the two stimulus awards, which he said would “help fill some of those gaps created’’ by cuts in the city’s state aid.
Lynn plans to use its $778,305 stimulus award to supplement its overtime budget, said Acting Fire Chief James Carritte. He hopes that should enable the city to return its Ladder 4 truck, based in Wyoma Square, to full service. The truck has been mostly out of service due to staffing constraints in recent months, leaving the city with two available ladder trucks per shift.
“We are very happy,’’ said Carritte. “I very much believe we should have three ladders available in the city whenever possible.’’
John Laidler can be reached at laidler@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
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Obit John Doyle
