Newport Council Approves Grant for New Fire Boat

NEWPORT, RI—The Newport City Council has voted to accept a federal port security grant that will help fund a new fire and rescue boat.

The 5-2 vote Wednesday night ends a public debate about whether the city should accept the grant, moving the debate now to whether a fire boat with advanced capabilities is a necessary expense. And, if the benefit of a major federal grant is outweighed by possible long-term costs associated with maintenance and training.

Voting against the measure were Councilors Justin McLaughlin and Kate Leonard, both of whom raised numerous questions about whether the city's acceptance of the grant opened the door for future financial burden.

The grant, totaling $964,500, consists of $723,375 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and requires a city match of about $240,000. The city has already budgeted $260,000 for a new fire department vessel in this year's budget. With the grant, the fire department would be able to buy a much more expensive boat with advanced firefighting and medical response capabilities for roughly the same cost as a smaller, less capable search and rescue boat.

City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. said that his office will "take ownership" of the grant and ensure that any expenditure is thoroughly vetted.

"This is a city of Newport grant, not a Newport Fire Department grant," Nicholson said before the vote. "The [boat] is not going to be built tomorrow. We do have a lot of time and we've come a long way since this was first exposed to the council over the last couple of weeks."

The council postponed making a decision on the grant earlier this months after concerns were raised about the ongoing costs associated with maintaining the fire boat.

Fire officials have said that if any community in Rhode Island needs a fire boat, Newport is it. Often referred to as the "sailing capital of the world," the vessel would help respond to boats on fire across Narragansett Bay but also protect shoreline assets like docks and marinas and could mean the difference between a small fire and a fast-moving blaze.

Also, the vessel would provide EMTs the ability to give advanced care to patients who otherwise would have to wait for arrival on shore and care in an ambulance.

Councilor Lynn Ceglie said that Newport harbor is one of the busiest ports in the world. With cruise ships and cigarette boats along with sailboats, fishing boats and pleasure crafts, Ceglie said that she sees the grant "as a very good opportunity to afford something we'd not be able to afford."

Matt Gineo, general manager of Oldport Marine and President of the Maritime Alliance, said that the city of Newport "desperately needs a fire boat" and said it's an embarrassment that it doesn't. Rhode Island has more boats per capita than any other state in the country, he said.

But, he said, the city needs to take a deliberative approach as it moves forward implementing the grant. His message: don't rush into buying one without due diligence.

The city's harbormaster just took possession of a new boat at a cost of about $250,000. The same vendor has fully capable firefighting vessels available for about $450,000. And the city could still meet the expectations of the grant by purchasing a boat at a lower cost than the $950,000 or so covered by the grant as a whole, he said.

Gineo, along with several others, said that the city's Waterfront Commission must be brought to the table as their members can offer valuable input (the city manager said this would happen). He also warned the city to not eventually tap the harbormaster's budget to pay for future fire boat needs. The harbormaster's budget is funded entirely through fees, tickets and cruise ship landings through an enterprise fund separate from the municipal budget.

That prompted Councilor McLaughlin to say that maybe the city should impose a tax on mega-yachts and cruise ships to pay for the fire boat's ongoing operational costs. He said he doesn't have a boat, nor does the general population have boats.

"Maybe the people in the harbor should be paying for it and not [through] the general fund," he said.

Councilor Naomi Neville countered: "Our harbor has been promoted as an economic generator and we've brought in regattas to [boost] the economy. To say protecting assets in the harbor is only beneficial to boat owners is a little simplistic."

Read: executive summary and full grant application.

This story was first posted at 7:40 p.m. and has been updated several times. It will be updated again.