Norridgewock residents on Monday voted in support of a federal grant application to fund two full-time firefighter positions, the Morning Sentinel reported.
The town’s selectmen will decide Wednesday whether to formally apply for the grant, but with the public vote Monday, the board is expected to pursue the option.
[Board backs plan to pay volunteer firefighters minimum wage]
Norridgewock held its annual town meeting Monday night. The vote to support the grant application was a show-of-hands vote in which a majority were in favor.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency grant would cover 75 percent of the costs for the two positions for two years and 65 percent for a third year, the newspaper reported.
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If the grant is awarded, the full-time firefighters would be the town’s first ever, according to the Morning Sentinel. Norridgewock has had a volunteer fire department since 1911, but local officials reportedly said the department is struggling to find new volunteers and that employers are becoming less likely to allow firefighters to leave work to fight daytime fires.