Manteca leaders at Tuesday’s City Council meeting are in a position to deliver on two promises made during the Measure Q sales tax campaign.

*Hiring additional firefighters to the tune of nine personnel to staff a sixth engine company 24/7.

*Maximizing the spending power of the voter-approved 20-year three-quarter cent sales tax by working to secure funds from other sources to leverage needed municipal services.

The City Council will be asked to accept two federal grants they had instructed staff to apply for:

*One is a $2,692,300 federal Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grant to hire nine firefighters.

*The other is a $718,387 Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters Grant for the replacement of self-contained breathing apparatus equipment.

The council earlier this month tapped into the Measure Q revenue stream to order replacements for all of the department’s 2007 era breathing equipment for $990,191.

The grant requires a $71,838 local match with the city picking up anything over the combined $790,000 involved with the grant.

That means $800,000 in Measure Q revenues can be used for other city needs.

Advances in technology and updated national standards have not only greatly improved safety features but the existing equipment is near the end of its designed life.

 The SAFER grant, in part, was awarded as Manteca had justified the need based on national staffing and performance standards.

The city already has a need to add another nine-man company for the $2 million tiller truck they took delivery of last year.

There is also a need to have nine additional firefighters for when the city’s sixth fire station is completed with the next three to four years in southwest Manteca.

Mayor Gary Singh noted the department is planning to relocate the tiller truck to the Union Road station from the Powers Avenue station.

That way a second fire company will be in position to respond from Union Road to help cover southwest Manteca until the new station opens.

At that time the tiller crew could be shifted to the southwest fire station to man a fire engine that would be housed there if the city isn’t yet in position to have an additional nine firefighters in addition to 9 positions added initially with help of the SAFER grant.

The tiller truck at the Power Avenue station would be replaced with a standard fire engine.

The Union Road station that opened in 2002 was built to handle a tiller truck and other engines.

It has living quarters to accommodate two fire companies.

The three-year SAFER grant requires $363,824 the first year for a 25 percent match.

In the second year, the city match is also 25 percent or $363,824.

The third year the city match will cover 65 percent or $945,943 of the cost of the nine firefighters.

 Starting in the fourth year, the city will be responsible for all of the salary and benefit costs for the 9 positions.

Should the council accept the SAFER grant, staff will return at a later date with a specific game plan to fund the city’s share from various sources.

Measure Q, approved by voters in November, put the city in a position to apply for grant funding to help ease into the hiring of nine firefighters.

It has never been the expressed intent to fund the additional 9 firefighters going forward 100 percent using Measure Q sales tax receipts.

Jumps in sales tax beyond inflation by securing new retail and dining places is expected to be one source.

So are community facility districts that have been formed using new neighborhoods to augment funding for hiring additional public safety personnel.

The city has also renegotiated property tax splits on annexed land with the county to improve Manteca’s ability to fund municipal services.

Also on Tuesday, the City Council will discuss a land swap connected with the new fire station.

That discission, as it involves negotiations, is allowed to take place behind closed doors under state law.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwuatt@manteabulletin.com