By narrow margin, the Minot City Council voted Monday to pursue a grant to offset the cost of hiring three additional firefighters.

Fire Chief Kelli Kronschnabel requested the council consider hiring a grant writer to pursue a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant. The goal of the SAFER grant is to enhance the ability of fire departments to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association, according to a memo to the council.

Outlined to the council last April, an analysis of the Minot Fire Department by the Center for Public Safety Management recommended ladder trucks carry four persons rather than three to operate efficiently and more safely. The report also recommended starting by adding personnel to the ladder truck at Station 5, located on Fourth Avenue Northwest, near the U.S. Highway 83 Bypass.

Future planning for a field incident technician to support operational battalion chiefs and serve in leader succession planning also would be an eligible grant expense, Kronschnabel said.

Kronschnabel said an assessment is being made to determine whether a grant application might be successful. If so, the $4,800 contract with the grant writer, Lexipol, would enable the city to pursue funds to cover another firefighter for each of three ladder shifts at Station 5 for three years, with no local match required. Grant applications are expected to become available this fall, according to the department.

City Manager Harold Stewart said the grant would defray the costs of the new firefighters for three years before it becomes necessary for taxpayers to pick up that expense.

He said phasing in staff in a fiscally responsible way is the best means of getting the fire department to the point at which it meets the national standards.

Council member Mike Blessum suggested the council fund the positions if a safety concern exists rather than see if a grant is available before adding them to the budget.

“If there is a need there, then we better figure out a way to do it,” he said. “I just think this is a little bit reversed.”

Council member Scott Samuelson said adding employees through a grant sets the council up for a future budget expense in three years without an indication of where continued funding will come from. He said the city should identify that future funding before going after the grant.

Council member Lisa Olson said the council must consider the actions it needs to take now and let future councils make their own decisions.

“If we can save our local taxpayers local dollars, it just makes sense to me,” council member Lisa Olson said.

On a 4-3 vote, the council approved hiring Lexipol and adopted a $4,800 budget amendment. Voting in affirmative were Olson, Mark Jantzer, Paul Pitner and Mayor Tom Ross. Voting against were Blessum, Samuelson and Rob Fuller.