The City of Salisbury has gotten a reprieve on the deadline for a $1.4 million federal grant to hire 12 additional firefighters over a two year period.
Days after a City Council rejection of the grant because of a bureaucratic snafu Mayor Jim Ireton announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has given the town until September 4th.
He said that he sent a request to City Council President Terry Cohen to reconsider the grant.
During an August 27th meeting the three member council majority expressed concern about the failure to get their required approval before filing the application as well as the issue of what happens when the grant runs out and there are staff cut backs.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that acting fire chief Rick Hoppes said that FEMA has offered to help with any questions the city has about the grant.
Since 2006 the Salisbury Fire Department has seen its number of uniformed firefighters drop from 64 to 61 as the result of departures and a hiring freeze.
