The Board of Directors of EMCID increased financial aid to the Montgomery County Emergency Services District #7 (MCESD #7), also known as the East Montgomery County Fire Department which serves New Caney and Splendora, to $2.1 million over the next seven years as part of an amended grant agreement.
The Board voted to give the fire department $300,000 annually, retroactive to 2015, through 2016, and to provide up to $300,000 per year of additional funding through 2021 if new, annual ad valorem tax revenue from the Grand Texas development doesn’t reach $300,000 per year. The measure was approved by the Board at its regular meeting held May 12, 2016. Two previously approved grant proposals in March and April authorized $1.2 million through 2018 and $1.5 million through 2019, respectively.
The grant proposal stipulates that the fire department utilize the first payment to upgrade to code Fire Station #156 on Morgan Cemetery Road in Splendora — which is not currently providing 24-hour service or staffing — to make it ready to be staffed around the clock, at a cost of about $56,000. Approximately $125,000 of the first payment will be used to pay for replacement of half, or 15, of the fire department’s aging self-contained breathing apparatus systems for firefighters, and the balance of the funds will be utilized to buy other necessary equipment and improvements to the station to ensure it is operational 24 hours a day.
Additionally, the funding measure requires MCESD #7 to reimburse EMCID the cost of the upgrades to Fire Station #156, or about $56,000, in the event the City of Cleveland annexes the property, bringing this funding back into the EMCID territory to be utilized by the East Montgomery County community.