1199a info

[briontci]

I’M NEW TO POSTING SO THIS WILL TAKE ME A WHILE TO GET USED TO. I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO HAS POSTED ON THIS FORUM, AS THE INFO HERE HAS HELPED ME IN MY FIRST GRANT APPLICATION. MY DEPARTMENT, DERBY FIRE DEPT. IN RICHMOND COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA APPLIED FOR A NEW PUMPER TANKER TO REPLACE A 1975 TANKER AND I RECEIVED 1199A LINK ON FRI AUG 22 AND 6 QUESTIONS ON MON AUG 25. IF I HAD KNOWN THAT THE 6 QUESTIONS WOULD BE ON MY E-MAIL WHEN I GOT BACK FROM THE BANK AND POST OFFICE MONDAY I’VE SPENT THE 10 DOLLARS MORE FOR NEXT DAY DELIVERY INSTEAD OF JUST PRIORITY MAIL. WE’RE WAITING WITH FINGERS CROSSED!

I WOULD LIKE TO PRAISE FEMA AS I HAVE CALLED THE HELP DESK TWICE WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE 1199A AND BOTH TIMES THE PHONE WAS ANSWERED BY A REAL PERSON AND THIS PERSON ANSWERED MY QUESTIONS. I FOUND THE ANSWERS TO BOTH MY QUESTIONS ON THE FEMA WEB SITE LAST NIGHT, SOMEWHERE I HADN’T LOOKED AND THIS POST IS TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT IT.
GO TO AWARDS PAGE:

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fire-servic.../03awards.shtm

ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE CLICK LINK FOR: INFORMATION FOR RECIPIENTS
AT TOP OF THIS PAGE CLICK LINK FOR: REQUESTING GRANT FUNDS
DIRECTIONS FOR 1199A ARE HERE.

IF 6 QUESTIONS AND 1199A ARE NOT PART OF AWARD NOTIFICATION AS FEMA SAYS THEN THEY COULD SAVE THEMSELVES MANY HELP CALLS BY POSTING 1199A DIRECTIONS IN APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS INSTEAD OF INFO FOR RECIPIENTS

MY DEPARTMENT IS LIKE SEVERAL I’VE SEEN POST FROM; DIDN’T GET DONE IN 01, MINIMAL EFFORT IN 02 FOR EQUIPMENT, GOT TURNED DOWN. I VOLUNTEERED TO WRITE THIS YEARS APPLICATION; WENT TO SEMINAR, RESEARCHED FACTS, WROTE AND REWROTE NARRATIVE, HAD READ BY MANY, MADE CHANGES AND SUBMITTED. I SPENT ~100 HOURS ON THIS APPLICATION WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH LESS IF NOT FOR LEARNING THE PROCESS AND IF I COULD TYPE AND SPELL.
THANKS,…BRION

[Arlingtonfire]

Thank You very much

You would not believe that that link was exactly what I was looking for.

The instructions for this were not easy to find, and the form is not exactly intuitive.

So now I will get the form submitted, and let the waiting begin.

In case anyone is interested we applied for a brush truck.

Our only vehicle we use in this capacity today is a 1950's civil defense vehicle on loan to us from the towns Emergency Management coordinator.

Very unsafe and unreliable.

Others in the department wanted to apply for turnout gear which we didn't really need (ours is not new but it is in good shape) because they saw it as a "Sure Thing", but I fought to apply for what we really needed.

Now I am beginning to think I might actually be able to tell them "I told you so" as many of them have looked at the grant process and say my time and effort was a waste as only turnout gear and SCBA get funded.

I will not claim that my application was anything special and I personally wrote the narative, but I tried hard and truely think I showed need in my narative.

I think the hardest part is the waiting, and trying to keep things quiet until you actually hear something official.

And when will the 6 questions come?

I think I am going to wear out my mouse checking for that e-mail

Last year I was one of the people who suggested some changes to the grant process as I was a little unforgiving of a process that rejected the application that I had worked so hard on (I never got past the computer grading).

Some of those changes were implemented, and I think they have made a positive impact on the grant process.

This shows that if you can state you position and defend it FEMA does listen, and they do learn from their mistakes.

Now I will wait, and continue praying that the "Update 1199" link is not a mistake.

Scott Lang
Assistant Chief
Arlington Fire Department
Arlington, VT