Item Coversheet
 ITEM: 4.D.
COUNCIL MEETING DATE:
April 28, 2016
SECTION:Consent Agenda
Description:
Authorize Submittal of 2016 CenterPoint Energy Community Partnership Grant Application          
Staff Contact:
Nealon P. Thompson, Fire Chief		Department / Division:
Fire Department

ACTION REQUESTED:

Authorize submittal of 2016 CenterPoint Energy Community Partnership Grant application to fund the purchase of eleven (11) Motorola Minitor VI pagers. 

  

SUMMARY:

The Fire Department utilizes VHF radio pagers to alert the paid-on-call/volunteer firefighters of calls for service (fires, medicals, hazardous materials, alarms, etc...).

 

As with all technology, time does not stand still and these primary notification pagers need to be replaced approximately every ten years to ensure reliability. 

 

With a majority of the pagers approaching ten years in age, the Fire Department would like the opportunity to apply for a CenterPoint Community Partnership Grant to accelerate the replacement cycle.

 

BACKGROUND:

CenterPoint Energy annually offers a Community Partnership Grant program focusing on safety equipment or safety-related projects.  Awards may be up to a maximum of $2,500, and require a fifty percent match of the total equipment or project costs.


BUDGET IMPACT:

If awarded the grant, the Fire Department would utilize existing 2016 budgeted dollars to match the required fifty percent.  In doing so an identified 2016 Small Tools and Equipment purchase would be pushed back to 2017.