Fire departments net more than $50K in grants

Mercer County fire departments this week were awarded more than $50,000 in grants to help pay user fees slated to increase for radio equipment.

The new Multi-Agency Radio Communications System grants awarded to the 10 local agencies are a portion of $3 million to be distributed to 106 fire departments in Ohio.

"The MARCS grant will allow fire departments to operate more efficiently through improved communication within their department and with surrounding agencies," according to director Andre Porter of the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of the State Fire Marshal's Office. "This will increase the safety levels of both firefighters and the communities they serve."

Local fire departments receiving grants are Burkettsville, $4,266; Celina, $6,960; Chattanooga, $4,277; Chickasaw, $6,287; Coldwater, $3,000; Southwest Mercer, $3,750; Mendon-Union, $4,667; Montezuma, $4,560; Rockford, $5,430; and St. Henry, $6,876.

The MARCS grant program was created in legislation signed by Gov. John Kasich in June to help small fire departments pay user fees and buy equipment to be used with the statewide digital program.

The maximum award given a department was $50,000 based on factors such as budget and size of each agency. The grants targeted political subdivisions with fewer than 25,000 residents.

County 911 coordinator Monte Diegel said state officials this spring announced the new MARCS grant program during a visit to Mercer County.

"They met with fire chiefs from all our departments," he said.

Diegel said the local agencies "have been in the mix" in discussions with the state to make MARCS user fees more affordable for smaller fire departments.

When MARCS was implemented in 2010, fire departments were required to pay a one-time $50 fee for each local-emergency-use-only portable or mobile radio.

Mercer County fire departments have a combined total of more than 400 radios. Each department possesses an average of 15 to 20 radios but not all are used regularly.

Fire departments across the state are supposed to pay $20 per month for any radio used even once per month.

"But MARCS has never billed," Diegel said.

However, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services - which operates the MARCS program - is proposing to charge a $20 per month user fee for each radio, regardless if used, effective in January, he said. The increase is designed to help cover costs of a soon-to-be implemented upgrade, Diegel said.

"The grant money will take care of 2015 (user fees) for the local fire departments," he said, adding the agencies can reapply for the grant if offered the following year.

Local fire officials hope a report penned by legislators, MARCS officials and others and due to the Ohio General Assembly in January prompts the state to reduce or eliminate future user fees.

"Any time you take that kind of money out of your budget, it takes away from the money you could have to buy equipment and pay for other items," Southwest Mercer Fire Chief Kim Day said.

The grant received from the Fort Recovery-area department will pay the 2015 user fees for its approximately two dozen radios. The agency must rely on fire district levy dollars, as well as money raised from two major fundraisers each year to purchase equipment, Day said.