CHAMPION TWP., Ohio - Champion Township Trustees unanimously voted against accepting near $674,000 grant for the fire depatment at a meeting set for Tuesday night.

Fire Chief Tom Dempsey was initially “ecstatic” to learn his department had been chosen to receive a federal grant to hire several new full-time firefighters.

“My guys were excited, the union was excited, the trustees were excited — at first,” Dempsey said in an interview Thursday, October 9. That was before the township realized the grant they had been selected for was actually a cost-sharing program.

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants are distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help departments increase the number of firefighters on staff. The money partially covers t

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