01/20/2023
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https://www.local944.com/Docs/ARPA/milfordARPA2022.pdf
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) was signed into law, providing financial relief to state and local entities that have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the Milford Professional Firefighters Local 944 worked tirelessly non-stop during the COVID-19 Pandemic. No firehouses or apparatus were closed, and we responded to every call. Despite the danger and high rate of Covid Infections to many of our members, we served the citizens and visitors without knowing the potential risks. We put duty first above all else, including that of our families when we returned home from our shifts. This is when no one knew, including the CDC how dangerous this virus was and sadly, we are still dealing with similar issues today.
During this time the United States Government allocated funds for cities and town across the nation to help infrastructure and Pandemic related costs. In order to coordinate this effort, the City formed the ARPA Working Group, composed of the Mayor, Aldermen, Chief of Staff, and Department Directors from Public Works, Health and Human Services, IT, Finance, Human Resources, and Economic Development.
No Fire Official was asked to be part of this ARPA Working Group.
The City of Milford received a total of $29,196,724.90 in Funding, with $411,000 allocated to the Fire Department which equates to only 1.4% of the total.
Below are the two items the Fire Department Received:
4. Fire Department Communications Equipment - $165,000.00 The Fire Department responds to community medical emergencies and supports the Health Department’s efforts in managing Milford’s COVID-19 response. The Fire Department needs improved technology to better the communication between dispatch and the response personnel, which in turn improves the service that the first responders can provide to the community. This project will update the communications systems in 18 Fire Department vehicles.
6. EMS Sustainability Equipment - $246,000.00 Milford’s Fire Department and EMS emergency response to COVID-19 produced an overwhelming amount of wear and tear on much of its medical equipment. Certain types of equipment have been aged at an accelerated rate due to the amount of decontamination required after treating and transporting COVID-19 patients. The pandemic created an increase in critical patient transports and the application of disinfectant solutions required after each has depreciated the equipment. The deterioration has significantly reduced the service life of the equipment, hastening the need for replacement. This project will fund three new hydraulic stretchers, three defibrillators, and three CPR compression
devices.
The communication equipment upgrade was requested in the Spring of 2020 but unfortunately was met with great resistance. With call volume at an all time high, the wear and tear on all EMS supply and equipment has been challenged. The above listed items should have been addressed with a budget increase, however, continued budgetary pressure did not allow for the new purchases.
Here is how some money was distributed throughout the city for you to compare:
Portable Stage Trailer - $200,000.00
Lisman Landing Resiliency Project - $420,000.00
Baseball & Softball Safety Fencing - $355,900.00
Eisenhower Park Upgrades- $475,00.00
Special Projects Manager - $400,000.00
We have linked the full ARPA file below for you to review and we encourage you to do so.
https://www.local944.com/Docs/ARPA/milfordARPA2022.pdf
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