Photo by Jon Anderson
220104_HV_Fire_Tahoes
This is one of the Chevrolet Tahoes used by the Hoover Fire Department's district commanders. The department is seeking a federal grant to replace three of its four vehicles used by district commanders.
The Hoover City Council on Tuesday night gave its blessing for the Hoover Fire Department to apply for a $212,250 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help replace three vehicles for commanders.
The department reorganized itself last year and expanded from one district commander to three. Officials utilized a reserve vehicle and pulled another from the headquarters staff to make sure each district commander has a vehicle to respond to calls on a daily basis, Division Chief Duane Prater said.
The Fire Department now uses four Chevrolet Tahoes as command vehicles, Prater said. Two are 2016 models with 89,000 and 98,600 miles on them, and the other two are 2007 models with 166,000 and 168,000 miles on them, Prater said.
The desire is to replace three of the vehicles and keep the best of the existing ones as a reserve unit, he said. The district commander vehicles are based at Station No. 4 on Municipal Drive, Station No. 7 in Inverness and Station No. 11 in Trace Crossings, Prater said.
If the department gets the federal grant, the city of Hoover would have to supplement the $212,250 grant with $21,225 of city money. The plan is to use money from the 2023 budget, records show.
The grant would come from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters program.
The federal grants are given out each year. Last year, the Hoover Fire Department received two grants — $205,000 to help purchase a medial rescue vehicle and almost $44,000 to help purchase fitness equipment for all 11 fire stations.
In other business Tuesday night, the Hoover City Council:
- Approved a new contract with The University of Alabama Health Services Foundation to provide a medical director for the Hoover Fire Department to review the department’s emergency medical practices and protocols and provide training updates to staff. Hoover’s medical director is Dr. Derek Robinett, and the city’s payment to the foundation for his services is increasing from $15,000 a year to $20,000 a year, Hoover fire Chief Clay Bentley said.
- Amended the city’s 2022 budget to shift money from a vacant part-time administrative assistant position in the Public Works Department and eight vacant seasonal recreation assistant positions in the Parks and Recreation Department to provide $55,550 for a new administrative assistant in the Risk Management Department.
- Approved an agreement to allow the U.S. Small Business Administration to operate a temporary field office at the Hoover Recreation Center to assist people with financial assistance requests related to the flooding that happened in October. The Small Business Administration likely will be there for six weeks, but that time could be extended if needed, City Administrator Allan Rice said.
- Accepted the donation of 43 acres of parkland along the Cahaba River by Signature Homes. Read more about that here.
