PALMER, Tenn. — The city of Palmer will get $85,000 of stimulus money in the form of a loan/grant package for its emergency responder projects in the Grundy County town of fewer than 800 people.
The money — sliced from a total pie of $4.4 million for the state — will help buy a new firetruck for the town’s volunteer fire department, Palmer Alderwoman Sue Long said.
City Recorder Lisa Magouirk “had put in for a grant, and I guess we got the stimulus instead,” Ms. Long said.
In previous improvements, officials used grant money for a new fire hall and tanker truck. They converted the old fire hall into a community building, she said.
The pumper is a necessary piece of equipment, she said.
“We’ve got a voluntary fire department — I think we’ve got about 22 guys — and they’ve had a lot of problems with the truck,” she said.
The town’s firefighters get a small amount of city money in each year’s budget, but most needs are met through fundraisers and grants, she said.
A little financial help makes all the difference on big-ticket items, she said, crediting Ms. Magouirk for the boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Ms. Magouirk said project funding is divided between a $60,000 USDA Rural Development loan and a $25,000 grant.
Palmer Fire Chief Eric Birdwell said the new truck will replace a 1975 model that has “about seen its best days.”
The new truck will help raise the town’s fire rating, which could lower residents’ insurance rates, he said. A new pumper would go with past and upcoming upgrades already aimed at improving insurance rates.
“It really helps recruit more people when they see you’re making progress and trying to make a difference.”
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
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