REGIONAL APPLICATIONS
Need Help Contact TEAM MN AFG at grants@minnesotafireservice.com
WINNING NARRATIVES and FAQ - BELOW
IMPORTANT
Narrative
Tips - here
Sample Regional Narrative - here
CAUTION - Do not use brand names, model numbers or part numbers in your application!
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What you need to do to prepare
The first and most obvious step is to get approval from your governing authority to be the host or a partner in this regional project. If you are the host you will have to sell this concept to all of the potential partners so you need some facts and data. In the case of a communications application, the items below need to be considered.- What is the State Radio Boards plan and time lines for your county so your plan meshes correctly?
- How many and what type of radios (mobiles, portables, repeaters, base stations, accessories) does your project require for each community?
- How much will this cost EACH community in match dollars?
- Are the radios on the Statewide Approved Subscriber
Equipment list?
- Are the radios you are looking for listed under Minnesota
Contract?
- Who’s gonna maintain the equipment?
- When a radio falls off a truck on the way to an incident,
who replaces the radio?
- How does the host believe the equipment will be disposed of?
Your budget should include all costs associated with the project’s implementation: equipment, accessories, additional training if required, etc.
Contact your prospective partners to get their buy in to the project and pass a resolution that binds them to the match dollars and the project
Notice:
All grant equipment should be accounted for the useful life of the equipment. But, grantees are only required to maintain grant related documentation for three years after the grant closeout. So, that's how long the regional host would have to maintain the records.
The host doesn't have to inform the AFG of the transfer, they only have to document the transfer.
There should be an MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the host and partners which outline responsibilities and such. The host should have a receipt from each partner which identifies each transferred radio or piece of equipment by serial number.
Who Are Regional Partners?
All of the following are defined as first responders under DHS NIMS and should be eligible partners in a regional application.Stakeholders are defined as the emergency management/response personnel within their jurisdiction, agency, or organization who are required to respond. This includes all emergency services-related disciplines such as EMS, hospitals, public health, fire service, law enforcement, public works/utilities, skilled support personnel, and other emergency management response, support, and volunteer personnel.
AFG will allow other disciplines to participate in regional projects. BUT, adding 14,000 partners that aren't fire/EMS is a hard sell to the panelists. These other disciplines should be bringing $$ to the project rather than riding on the backs of scarce FIRE funding.
The non fire partners should have at least one mobile, one portable and possibly one base station so
the responding unit or supervisor of those partners can then communicate or transmit the info to their personnel on their own radio system. You should not plan on equipping all of the non fire partners units or fleet.
NEW FOR 2010
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•Eligible applicants may act as a host for a regional application.
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Regional projects are designed to facilitate interoperability and efficiency among participants.
-
Standardization does NOT necessarily equate to interoperability.
Regional projects are based on the statistics and total population of the region. When writing your application, all requested statistics should be from all agencies involved. These statistics should include call volume, budget, etc.
The only eligible applicants are fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations.
Any eligible applicant, whether a fire department or a nonaffiliated EMS organization, may act as a “host applicant” and apply for large-scale or regional projects on behalf of themselves and any number of organizations in neighboring jurisdictions.
Regional projects are designed to facilitate interoperability and efficiency among the participating jurisdictions. As such, the only activities available as a regional project are training and equipment acquisition (such as communications equipment) that positively affect interoperability between jurisdictions.
The only eligible activities for regional grant applications are:
•Communications equipment
•Training
•Equipment that satisfies interoperability such as hose
Examples of viable regional projects would be a multi-jurisdictional communications system or standardization of training. Regional projects should be designed to address issues of communications or equipment interoperability among multiple jurisdictions .
Purchase of turnouts, SCBA, wellness and fitness, modification to facilities, and vehicle acquisition activities are not eligible as regional projects.
- SCBA is not an eligible project under a regional application! As stated earlier, standardization is not considered to be a viable regional activity.
-
Any regional communications plan must comply with your Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP) and the SCIP must have been approved by DHS.
- All States’ SCIPs have been approved. Any funding for communications must comply with the approved plan
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Statewide ARMER Radio Board (Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER)
-
Scott Wiggins, DirectorDivision of Emergency Communication Networks(ARMER/9-1-1 Programs)444 Cedar Street, Suite 137St. Paul, MN 55101Office: 651-201-7546Cell: 651-983-9306E-mail: scott.wiggins@state.mn.us
- Tom Johnson
MN Department of Public Safety
444 Cedar Street, Suite 137
St. Paul, MN 55101
Ofc. (651) 201-7552
tom.m.johnson@state.mn.us
Regional Coordinators
ARMER Statewide Radio Board
Northern Regional Interoperability Coordinators (RIC)
William.Bernhjelm@state.mn.us
Tom Justin
ARMER Statewide Radio Board
Central Regional Interoperability Coordinators (RIC)
320-980-5259
Tom.Justin@state.mn.us
Steve Borchardt
ARMER Statewide Radio Board
Southern Regional Interoperability Coordinators (RIC)
(507) 398-9687
Steven.Borchardt@state.mn.us
- By asking for communications equipment you will be coming into statutory compliance with the following state laws; MN Law 182.653 for one and MN Law 403.36 STATEWIDE RADIO BOARD. Subd. 1e. and Minnesota State Law 403.911 (emergency services communications systems), and the upcoming mandatory Federal narrowbanding requirement.
- The
State radio Board has a system standard that all radios operated on the
800 trunked system have to be tested and approved before we allow them
on the system. This was required since the trunked radios actually send
messages back and forth to the system controllers and interface with
the
system in order to operate on the trunked system. Therefore only 800
MHz radios have been tested and listed on the Statewide Approved
subscriber list.
- A regional project is one in which multiple organizations serving more than one local jurisdiction benefit directly from the activities implemented with the grant funds. Connectivity is a key characteristic of a project that affects interoperability.
- Regional projects are based on the total pop of the region.
-
Host must be an eligible organization.
-
Regions mean more than one jurisdiction .
A regional project is one in which multiple organizations serving more than one local jurisdiction benefit directly from the activities implemented with the grant funds.
A county fire department applying for a countywide communications system is NOT a regional project because it does not benefit multiple “seats-of-government.”
A county or city fire department may apply on behalf of themselves and other volunteer VFDs within the county in a regional application as long as the VFDs do not fall under the jurisdiction of the county/city FD.
The “host” will be responsible for fulfilling all grant requirements such as reporting to NFIRS, control of and accounting for the funds, and distribution and control of the property.
Additionally, the host is responsible for assuring that the cost share is met. The cost share for regional projects is based on the total population and demographics of the entire region.
Regional applications cannot include the purchase of resources or any activities meant solely for the host applicant.
As in last year’s program, host applicants in FY 2010 may apply for funding to address their own needs beyond the scope of the regional project in a separate application(s).
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The purpose of a regional project is to facilitate interoperability and efficiency between jurisdictions.
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Any equipment purchased with grant funds must be physically distributed to all departments listed in the application.
For example, a project that would not be considered to have an affect on interoperability (and thus would not be considered a regional project) would be an application for an air compressor or a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) response vehicle.
In this example, the assets would be shared with
neighboring departments under mutual or automatic aid agreements, but
physically located in the awardee’s department and not disseminated
among the participants;
as such, this project would not qualify as a regional project.
FAQ Additional FAQ on the AFG Website
CAUTION - Do not use brand names, model numbers or part numbers in your application!
QUESTION: What
is the
definition of interoperability?
ANSWER:
Interoperability is described as fire department technology, equipment,
programs, and/or procedures that give the department the capability of
operating with a variety of other departments and/or communities within
a region, and/or with Federal and State agencies.
MFSN Editors Example:
Three firefighters from three different fire departments arrive at a
incident and are formed into an interior attach team. One has a MSA
SCBA, one has a Drager SCBA, one has a Scott SCBA. Even though they
alkl have different SCBA they can all still function as a team and have
a safe mission.
Same scenarior except
they all have different radios. One has a low band VHF (46 Mhz), one
has a high band VHF (154 mhz) and one has a UHF (450 Mhz). This
is a major interoporability problem as they can not communicate with
each other which causes a potential life safety hazard.
QUESTION: Can a
Regional FD hosted application for radios include a hospital based
ambulance service as a recipient of radios or a law enforcement agency?
ANSWER: We’ve allowed non-eligible entities to be a “by-product” beneficiary of communications projects, i.e., for a dispatch system, the sheriff’s department or the local cops can also be dispatched from the AFG purchased equipment. But we have not allowed not-eligible applicants to be a direct beneficiary, i.e., to have and to hold an AFG purchased radio.
QUESTION: Are
organizations or agencies normally considered ineligible
for an AFG grant, eligible to be included as a beneficiary of a
regional application?
ANSWER: Yes. Law enforcement, public works, or the local emergency management offices could be beneficiaries of Assistance to Firefighters grants. For example, local law enforcement could be users of a new dispatch system funded by the grant program or the emergency management staff could be issued radios by the grantee in order to foster interoperability.
QUESTION: A fire department wants to apply for a regional radio project. The county decides they will help pay for the required match. The FD figures they do not need to contact each individual city within the county for agreements because the county pays the match. Can we or should we do this?
ANSWER: The match is only one piece of the “agreement” between the host and the participants. Who’s gonna maintain the equipment? When a radio falls off a truck on the way to an incident, who replaces the radio? How does the host believe the equipment will be disposed of? They should have an agreement with each participants.QUESTION: Can a county GIVE dollars to a city so they have the match dollars for the cities portion of the project?
ANSWER: We don’t care where the cash comes from as long as the funds are not from the Federal Gov. via another grant or Federal source. Example: if the city gave the FD $$ for a match and the city was supposed to use the money to build a Federally funded library, then the city is in trouble, not the FD. The FD has no knowledge of the source of funds.
QUESTION: Regional applications
this year in the equipment category, only communications equipment will
be allowed. Is this correct?
ANSWER: Any equipment that is interoperable and/or where interoperability is enhanced with the use of the equipment is eligible. Generally, communications equipment is the epitome of interoperability, thus it is the overwhelming request under a regional request. I’ve seen applicants request LDH under a regional and we may have even awarded one or two, but it is a much harder sell.
QUESTION: Regional training this year what will be allowed as far as types of training?
ANSWER:
Any basic FF training would be considered under a regional
request. Case must be made, as always.
QUESTION:
What is the policy
for reporting to NFIRS (National Fire Incident Reporting System) for
fire departments or EMS organizations who apply as regional applicants?
ANSWER: As the official grantee, only the regional host is responsible for adhering to any and all grant requirements. However, we strongly encourage any fire department that participants to report incident data to NFIRS during the period of performance.
QUESTION:
For Regional applications,
are all of the benefiting organizations required to be NIMS compliant
or just the host applicant?
ANSWER: We expect all departments receiving equipment or services from a regional project grant to be compliant with all local edicts regarding NIMS prior to award.
QUESTION:
Are there any special
requirements in order to qualify for a regional communications project?
ANSWER:
Yes. Regional communication projects must comply or be consistent with
the State Communication Interoperability Plan (SCIP). Applicants in
states that do not have a SCIP are not eligible for regional
communication projects.
QUESTION:
I am
planning to submit an application as a host for a regional project.
When I answer the questions in the Department Characteristics section
of the online application, do I use the statistics for the entire
region that will be affected by the project, or do I use my
department's local statistics?
ANSWER:
When applying as a host of a regional project, you should provide
statistics for the entire region. The statistics provided may affect
the level of the cost-share obligation.
QUESTION: I am applying as the host for a
regional project, but I also need some equipment for my own department.
Can I submit a second application for my own department's needs?
ANSWER:
Yes. In 2010, you may submit a separate application for your own
department's needs. DO NOT apply for your own internal needs on the
regional application.
QUESTION:
I have
noticed several vendors that claim their product is "FEMA Fire Act
Approved." Do you have a list of products that are "Approved?"
ANSWER:
No. The Federal Government (FEMA, ODP, SLGCP, or DHS) does not approve,
endorse, promote, sanction or otherwise support any specific products
or services. Purchasers should be wary of any vendor making such
claims. For the AFG Program, we require any product or service
purchased with grant funds comply with applicable national standards.
QUESTION:
ANSWER:
ANSWER:
CAUTION - Do not use brand names, model numbers or part numbers in your application!
Regional Projects
For the purposes of this program, applications for regional projects will not be included in the host applicant’s funding limitations detailed above. Regional applications will be considered independent of, and unrelated to, any other applications that the host applicant may submit and thus will not be included when assessing the host applicant’s Federal funding limits. Regional applications, however, will be subject to their own limitation based on the total population that the regional project will serve. For example, a regional project that serves a population of fewer than 500,000 people will be limited to $1,000,000.
Regional projects’ cost-share will be based on the total population and demographics of the entire region – not the population of the host applicant. All non-Federal match funds must be in cash; in-kind contributions are not acceptable. No waivers of this requirement will be granted except for applicants located in Insular Areas as provided for in 48 U.S.C. § 1469a (which limits the waiver to grants under $200,000).
In FY 2009, you may submit one application per application period in each of the program areas, (i.e., one application under Operations and Safety, one under Vehicle Acquisition, and/or a separate application as a regional host).
3. Regional Projects
Regional Projects Any eligible applicant, whether a fire department or a nonaffiliated EMS organization, may act as a “host applicant” and apply for large-scale or regional projects on behalf of itself and any number of organizations in neighboring jurisdictions.A regional project is one in which multiple organizations serving more than one local jurisdiction benefit directly from the activities implemented with the grant funds. A county fire department applying for a countywide communications system is NOT a regional project because it does not benefit multiple “seats-of-government.” Regional projects are designed to facilitate interoperability and efficiency among the participating jurisdictions. As such, the only activities available for application under a regional project are training and equipment acquisition (such as communications equipment) that positively affect interoperability between jurisdictions.
Purchase of turnouts, SCBA, wellness and fitness, modification to facilities, and vehicle acquisition activities are not eligible as regional projects. Regional projects require one eligible applicant to act as the “host” for the project. Regional applications may only include activities that are meant to address the identified regional risk. Regional applications cannot include the purchase of resources or any activities meant solely for the host applicant.
As in last year’s program, host applicants in FY 2010 may apply for funding to address their own needs beyond the scope of the regional project in a separate application(s). The “host” will be responsible for fulfilling all grant requirements such as reporting to NFIRS, control of and accounting for the funds, and distribution and control of the property.
Additionally, the host is responsible for assuring that the cost share is met. The cost share for regional projects is based on the total population and demographics of the entire region. DHS has the discretion to waive the legislatively established funding limits under AFG. In order to encourage interest and participation in this critical strategy to address interoperability, DHS may exercise that discretion if the funding of a regional application is at risk of exceeding statutory funding caps, (i.e., the funding of the regional request combined with other AFG awards would cause the host applicant to exceed the legislatively established funding limits).
In general, equipment purchased as a result of a regional project will be physically distributed to all the departments that are beneficiaries of the project. This physical distribution of the equipment to other first responder organizations is the single characteristic that distinguishes eligible regional projects from projects that are not regional in nature but may have an impact on a region via mutual aid.
For example, a project that would not be considered to have an effect on interoperability (and thus would not be considered a regional project) would be an application for an air compressor or a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) response vehicle. In this example, the assets would be shared with neighboring departments under mutual or automatic aid agreements, but physically located in the awardee’s department and not disseminated among the participants; as such, this project would not qualify as a regional project.
Examples of viable regional projects would be a multi-jurisdictional communications system or standardization of training. As stated above, regional projects should be designed to address issues of communications or equipment interoperability among multiple jurisdictions.
In order to apply for a regional project, the host organization must:
- be an eligible applicant, (i.e., either a fire department or a nonaffiliated EMS organization – a county, county association, city, or an emergency management organization is not eligible and could not apply for a regional project), and
- agree, if awarded, to be responsible for all aspects of the grant including, but not limited to, accountability for the assets and all reporting requirements.
In the regional application, the host organization will be required to describe the characteristics of the entire region that will be affected by the project (i.e., the population of the affected region, not the applicant’s “first-due” population).
The applicant must provide detailed information in the project narrative describing the nature of the project including the project’s budget, the effect the project will have on the region, and the need for the project.
This includes a detailed description of the following:
- The proposed project and the project budget.
- The financial need for the project.
- The benefits that would result.
- The extent to which the grant would enhance daily operations.
- How the grant will positively impact the regional ability to protect life and property.
For example, if a host applicant applies for a multi-jurisdictional communications project, a participating organization that will receive some of the communications equipment can apply for other needs as long as it does not apply for duplicative communications equipment.
Host applicants MAY NOT apply for items to address other needs beyond the regional project on the regional application; but, as indicated above, a host applicant may submit a request to meet its own, non-regional needs in a separate application.
When evaluating the benefits of any regional project, we will take into account the other partners that will be involved in the project, whether they are other fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, or other public service organizations. We will also take into consideration the extent to which the non-fire/EMS partners will contribute to the overall costs of the regional project.
B. Grantee Responsibilities
(2) Share in the costs of the projects funded under this grant program. Fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving populations of over 50,000 or more must match the Federal grant funds with an amount of non-Federal funds equal to 20 percent of the total project cost. Fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving populations between 20,000 and 50,000 must agree to match the Federal grant funds with an amount of non-Federal funds equal to 10 percent of the total project cost. Fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving areas with a population of 20,000 or fewer must match the Federal grant funds with an amount of non-Federal funds equal to 5 percent of the total project cost. Regional project cost-share will be based on the total population and demographics of the entire region. All non-Federal match funds must be in cash; in-kind contributions are not acceptable. No waivers of this requirement will be granted except for applicants located in Insular Areas as provided for in 48 U.S.C. § 1469a.The grantee is not required to have the cash match in hand at the time of application, nor at the time of award. But, before a grant is awarded, DHS will contact potential awardees to determine whether the grantee has the funding in hand or if the grantee has a viable plan to obtain the funding necessary to fulfill the matching requirement.
OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations (06/24/1997) (includes revisions published in Federal Register 06/27/2003) HTML or PDF (33 pages, 127 kb)
-- March 2007 Compliance Supplement
-- March 2006 Compliance Supplement
-- Appendix A: Data Collection Form (Form SF-SAC)
REGIONAL WINNING NARRATIVES
CAUTION - Do not use brand names, model numbers or part numbers in your application!
- Narrative - 2009 - Regional Radio Project,
- $872,629.00 for a regional interoperable radio project 8 fire departments and 1 non-affiliated EMS organization
- Mobile Radios - 55, Base Stations - 9 , Portable Radios - 153
- Other Communications (explain) - Narrowband Pagers. VHF narrowband tone/voice alert pagers 168
- Other Communications (explain) - Spare batteries for portable radios, 4 spare batteries for each agency 36
- Narrative
- 2009 - Regional
Radio
Project,
- $439,254.00 for a regional interoperable radio project 10 fire departments
- 50 mobile truck radios, 100 watt, dual head
- 130 hand held radios
- 10 base stations, one for each department
- Narrative
- 2009 - Regional
Radio
Project,
- $1,000,000.00 for a regional interoperable radio project 16 fire departments
- Portable Radios - 96
- Mobile Radios - 69
- Base Station - 16
- Training
- Narrative
- 2008 - Regional Radio
Project, $404,706.00 for a regional interoperable
- radio
project 6 departments 6
base radios,
- 34 single head mobile radios, 10 dual mobile radios, 64 handheld portables, 155 Motorola Minitor V Pager, 12 Accessories Headset, Dual Ear Muff, Behind Head, with PTT,Training
- Narrative - 2007 - Regional Radio Project: 190 Portable (Handheld) Radios,
- 87 Mobile Radios, 12 Base Units, Installation/Accessory Fees, Training, Total $1,011,595
- Narrative - 2006 - Regional Training Project FF1, FF2, NIMS Incident Command System
- Narrative - 2006 - Regional Radio Project Repeaters, Mobiles, Portables
- Narrative - 2005 - Regional Radio Project, Mobiles, Portables and Headsets
- Narrative - 2004
- Regional Radio Project,
800 MHz Radios, Portables, Base
- stations, Accessories
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