Jeannette to use some federal American Rescue Plan money to buy new radios for firefighters

Jeannette firefighters are getting an upgrade to their radio systems with the help of American Rescue Plan funding.

Fire Chief Bill Frye said he plans to purchase 23 new portable radios, a mobile radio for in a fire truck and a new radio repeater as well as upgrade the fire alarm system. He expects the price tag to be between $109,000 and $130,000. Those items are decades old.

“They’re no longer supported” and firefighters can’t get the portable radios fixed if they break or stop working, Frye said.

Council approved the purchase Thursday.

It will be the second expenditure authorized out of the $900,000 that Jeannette was allocated through the American Rescue Plan. The first was $500 bonuses for every full-time employee approved last month, pending final rules about how municipalities can spend the federal money.

The American Rescue Plan is a $1.9 trillion stimulus package approved in March that includes funding for counties and local municipalities. The money must be spent by the end of 2024.

Expenses related to the coronavirus pandemic would qualify for the funds, under interim rules, as would grants to help small businesses, nonprofits and industries that have suffered during the last 21 months. It can be spent on water, sewer and broadband projects but it cannot be used to lower taxes, demolish buildings or bolster municipal pension funds.

Frye said some of the portable radios date back to 2001 and the radio repeater is from the 1990s. The four items work together and allow firefighters to be notified of calls and communicate during them.

He expects to reduce the current load of 33 portable radios to 23 by limiting who has access to them.

Communication equipment is covered under the interim rules for the American Rescue Plan. City officials have been waiting for the final regulations to be released before spending any money. Solicitor Tim Witt said if communication equipment does not make the final cut, the city will have to find another source of funding for those items.