City Snags $515K Federal Covid Grant

Mix in $300,000 for N95 masks, shields, gloves, and gowns.

Fold in $72,000 for computers, largely for remote training of new police and fire recruits.

Add a sprinkle of decontaminating equipment — $14,000.

And finish it off with $55,757 for overtime

Put them, and some other ingredients together, and you have the recipe for a successful application for a U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Corona Virus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program grant.

The exact amount is $515,823, with $294,685 going to the police department, $207,000 to fire, and $13,754 to the health department.

Members of the Board of Alders Public Safety Committee received the news of the grant at a Tuesday’s night hearing chaired by Quinnipiac Meadows Alder Gerald Antunes.

The city submitted the application in April. News of speedy approval has just arrived.

Antunes and aldermanic staffers conducted the meeting, which was open to the public but had no public participation online or through submitted questions, via the Zoom teleconferencing app.

“This will enhance our ability to respond to Covid situations,” said Asst. Chief Herb Sharp, who made the presentation to the alder along with Chief Otoniel Reyes. Lt. Justin McCarthy presented and answered questions on behalf of the fire department, until Fire Chief John Alston arrived a little later in the Zoom proceedings.

Sharp said the funds will enable the police department to have a stockpile of PPE (personal protective equipment), which it did not have at the beginning of the pandemic when ​“we used the supply from the detention facility.”.

The equipment will enable officers to perform hazardous duty not only now but also for the longer term, he added.

Dowtown Alder Abby Roth asked for clarification on specific Covid-related expenditures that the monies will be used for.

“For officers at testing sites, and at shelters,” replied Chief Reyes, ​“and to supplement [overtime for] staff shortages for officers who must quarantine.”

McCarthy, who oversees purchasing at the fire department, echoed that a big part of his department’s share of the grant will underwrite firefighter overtime as well support for the ​“teams to insure state Covid rules.”

Alders were curious about the burn rate of the PPE.

Sharp’s answer: ​“About 150 masks a week, for the gloves, double. A pretty significant burn rate.”

Both the police and fire spokesmen said that looking ahead they will need more PPE resources. As the crisis wanes a bit, prices are at least coming down. ​“N95s went up from 90 cents to $7,” McCarthy reported. He said the department responds to approximately 3,000 calls a month that require some kind of PPE.

Roth asked if the state is coordinating purchases for the departments, ​“or are you competing with each other?”

“No, the state is not” coordinating, Alston replied. He complimented McCarthy for putting in orders for equipment early, some of which are just now arriving.

All the alders expressed praise and approval for the work of the department and the initiative in getting the grant. Several, however, led by Antunes, were peeved, even critical, that the police submitted the application before the Board of Alders approved, when prior approval is the established rule and procedure.

“We apologize,” said Chief Alston, ​“but in an emergency, they [DOJ] want numbers right away. If we can find money to save the city money … it was not to bypass this body but to get funds for the city.”.

“Rest assured, our departments have every intention of adhering to the rules of this body,” Reyes told the alders.

He averred that maybe the policy requiring aldermanic approval needs a mechanism to allow for approvals for badly needed funds, and permit emergency pre-approval submission, under circumstances such as this.

“You are doing an exceptional job,” said Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo, ​“but a quick message to inform the committee is important to the process. A courtesy email will go a long way, he added.”