Section 296.10  Definitions

 

The following definitions apply to terms used in this Part:

 

"Combination fire department" means a fire department that has volunteer firefighting personnel and paid firefighting personnel, including, but not limited to, paid-on-call personnel.

 

"Committee" means the Grant Applications Review Committee established in Section 296.50.

 

"Fire Department" means a fire department, fire protection district or township fire department that is a unit of local government in Illinois that provides fire suppression within a geographical area.  For purposes of this Part, fire department is defined to include volunteer fire departments and volunteer fire protection districts.

 

"Fire Department Identification Number" or "FDID" means the unique identification number issued by the Office to fire departments that register for participation in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

 

"Fire Station" means a building or a structure set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus (i.e., fire trucks, pumpers, ladder trucks, elevating platforms, rescue trucks, tankers, brush trucks, squad trucks, and related emergency response and other vehicles), personal protective equipment, fire hose and other fire extinguishing equipment. It may also have dormitory living facilities and work areas such as offices, meeting rooms, a workshop, or laundry. The term also includes additions for existing buildings as well as fully new construction.

 

"Office" means the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

 

"Program" means the Fire Station Rehabilitation and Construction Grant Program.

 

"Rehabilitation" means to restore, improve or modify a fire station or portion thereof.

 

"Units of local government" means counties, municipalities, townships, special districts, and units, designated as units of local government by law, which exercise limited governmental powers or powers in respect to limited governmental subjects, but does not include school districts. Ill. Const. 1970, Art. VII, Sect. 1

 

"Volunteer fire department" means a fire department that has only volunteer firefighting personnel.

 

Section 296.20  Purpose

 

The Office shall administer a program to provide grant funds for the rehabilitation and construction of fire stations operated by units of local government.  The Office shall determine grant awards based on space needs, financial need, and how recently the applicant received a grant under this program. Grants for the rehabilitation and construction of fire stations shall not exceed $350,000 in any single fiscal year to any unit of local government under this program.

 

Section 296.30  Eligibility

 

a)         Applicants must have participated in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) for a minimum of two years prior to the application for the fire station rehabilitation and construction grant, except that fire departments that were issued a Fire Department Identification Number by the Office less than two years prior to the application are eligible to apply for a fire station rehabilitation and construction grant if they participated in NFIRS since the date their FDID was issued by the Office. The applicant must have an active registration under the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) [30 ILCS 708] and a status of "qualified" on the GATA Grantee Portal (https://grants.illinois.gov/portal) at the time the application is submitted.  The applicant must also have its own FEIN issued by the Internal Revenue Service for federal income tax purposes. 

 

b)         Fire protection entities that are not a unit of local government are not eligible to apply for a grant under this program.

 

c)         Units of local government that do not operate a fire department are not eligible for grants under this program.

 

d)         Applicants must demonstrate that the fire station for which the grant is sought will continue to be operated by the applicant as a fire station for at least 10 years, or a longer period as may be identified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) issued by the Office.  If, within 10 years after the completion of the project for which a grant was made under this Part, or within a longer period as may be identified in the NOFO issued by the Office, the grant recipient ceases to use the fire station as a fire station, the grant recipient shall refund to the Office a prorated amount of the grant based on the number of months the grant recipient was not in compliance (for example, out of a total of 120 months if the compliance period is 10 years).  Any partial month of noncompliance shall be included in the repayment amount. 

 

e)         A minimum of 60% of grant funds per funding opportunity shall be set aside for volunteer or combination fire departments.  If this percentage cannot be met due to the lack of approved applications from these types of fire departments, the remaining funds may be allocated to non-volunteer or non-combination fire departments.

 

Section 296.35  Use of Grant Monies

 

a)         A recipient of a fire station rehabilitation and construction grant under this Part may use the grant monies for one or more of the following purposes:

 

1)         Construction of an addition to or otherwise expanding or the rehabilitation of an existing fire station;

 

2)         Construction of a new fire station or renovations to an existing fire station in order to create a new fire station;

 

3)         Acquisition of a fire station;

 

4)         Purchase or replacement of real property fixtures; and

 

5)         Maintenance or structural improvements.

 

b)         Applicants that seek to purchase a site with a portion of grant monies will be required to obtain an appraisal and submit it to the Office to establish the site's fair market value.  Applicants that seek to rehabilitate or expand a currently owned fire station must demonstrate an ownership interest in the property to be improved, either fee simple title or other means of legal control and tenure (easement, long-term lease, etc.).

 

Section 296.40  Grant Application Procedure and Content

 

a)         Application Procedure.

 

1)         Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the Office will make application forms for fire station rehabilitation and construction grants under this program available on its website.

 

2)         A completed original application form shall be signed by the duly authorized officers of the applicant.

 

3)         Applications shall be returned, by the date specified on the form, to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Attention:  Fire Station Rehabilitation and Construction Grant Program, 1035 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois  62703-4259.

 

4)         Applications received by the Office shall be logged in as received and assigned an application number.

 

b)         Application Content.  Each grant application shall include the following information:

 

1)         Identifying information for the applicant, including the applicant's fire department and unit of local government.

 

2)         A detailed description of the applicant's need for the proposed rehabilitation or construction work.

 

3)         Name and contact information for the fire department or local government personnel to serve as contacts for the application.

 

4)         Information on the applicant's two most recent budgets.

 

5)         Any other information or documentation the Office may require to demonstrate or support the information submitted by the applicant or to otherwise determine the applicant's eligibility under this Part.

 

c)         Review of Applications.  Applications shall be assessed by blind review, meaning the Committee shall not see the name, address or any specific information that identifies the applicant.  The Committee shall review and rank the applications based on assessment of need and information provided in the grant application.

 

d)         Grant Award.  After the Committee reviews and ranks the applications, the Office will, subject to appropriation, award a grant to the highest-ranking applicants. 

 

Section 296.50  Grant Applications Review Committee

 

a)         The State Fire Marshal shall appoint a Grant Applications Review Committee to determine which applicants will receive grants and the amount of the grant.  If, for any reason, a successful applicant is unable to fulfill the terms of the grant or withdraws the request after it has been approved, then the next highest-ranking applicant without a grant will be offered a grant.

 

b)         The Committee shall consist of the following seven members:

 

1)         The State Fire Marshal, or the State Fire Marshal's designee, as Chair;

 

2)         Three current or former Fire Chiefs (one each from a volunteer fire department, a combination fire department and a career/municipal fire department);

 

3)         One representative from the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois;

 

4)         One member who is a current or former volunteer firefighter; and

 

5)         One member representing the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts.

 

c)         Members shall serve without salary, but may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses by the Office from appropriations for that purpose.

 

d)         Members shall serve a term of four years.

 

e)         Upon the expiration of a member's term, the State Fire Marshal may reappoint that member or appoint a successor who is a representative of the same interests with which the member's predecessor was identified.

 

f)         Replacement of a Member

 

1)         The State Fire Marshal may, at any time, remove any of the respective appointees for inefficiency or neglect of duty in office. 

 

2)         A member shall continue to serve only as long as the member holds the position that made that individual eligible to serve under the criteria prescribed by subsection (b).

 

3)         In the instances described in subsections (f)(1) and (2), or upon the death or incapacity of a member, the State Fire Marshal shall fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term by appointing a member who is a representative of the same interests with which the member's predecessor was identified.

 

g)         Meetings of the Committee shall occur as often as deemed necessary by the Chair, at a date, time and place to be fixed by the Committee (or by the Chair, should the Chair call for the meeting) and at such additional times as the Committee deems necessary to consider any business as may properly come before it.

 

h)         A quorum shall be a majority of the appointed positions that have been filled by appointment.  Unfilled positions shall not be counted.

 

i)          Committee members must comply with the applicable conflict of interest provisions contained in 44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000. 

 

j)          Members of the Committee are required to participate in all mandatory annual trainings, including, but not limited to, ethics and harassment & discrimination prevention training. Upon completion of the required training programs, members of the Committee must certify that they have completed the training programs.

 

k)         Committee members must comply with the applicable confidentiality provisions contained in 44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000.  Members of the Committee are also required to execute a confidentiality statement agreeing not to disclose any information gained during the course of their service on the Committee.

 

Section 296.55  Prescreening of Grant Applications by the Office

 

The Office will conduct a prescreening of all grant applications received by the deadline to identify applicants with the greatest need as determined under this Section.  The steps of this prescreening are provided in this Section.

 

a)         The Office will evaluate whether each application was received by the deadline, whether the applicant has met the eligibility requirements of Section 296.30 as of the application deadline date, and whether the applicant has fully completed all sections of the application.  Only those applicants that meet these eligibility requirements will receive further consideration.

 

b)         To assist the Committee in making final determinations of grant awards, the Office will then rank complete applications of eligible applicants using the following criteria:

 

1)         The Office will use information provided by the applicant on its operating budget, square miles served and population served in developing a ranking of financial need.

 

2)         The Office will divide each applicant's budget by the square miles served to determine the applicant's budget per square mile and will rank the applicants lowest to highest.

 

3)         The Office will divide each applicant's budget by the population served to determine the applicant's budget per person and will rank the applicants lowest to highest.

 

4)         The Office will then average the two rankings of each applicant to reach an overall ranking. 

 

c)         Applicants that have previously received a grant from the Office under this program will be ranked against each other according to the criteria in subsection (b), but this group of applicants will be ranked below all applicants that have not previously received a grant under this program.

 

d)         Using the ranking criteria identified in subsections (b) and (c), the Office will rank the applications.  Based upon the grant amount requested by each applicant, the Office will provide the Committee with complete application information for the top ranked applications totaling at least 1½ times the amount of available appropriations for the Committee's determination for that grant cycle. 

 

Section 296.60  Criteria for Review of Grant Applications

 

a)         The Committee will consider the following criteria and assign point totals when determining grant recipients.  The Committee will only consider applications provided by the Office in accordance with Section 296.55. 

 

1)         Space Need − 0-50 points

 

A)        The applicant does not currently own a fire station and desires to have one constructed.

 

B)        The applicant currently owns a fire station but is requesting funds for its rehabilitation.

 

C)        The applicant is unable to construct or rehabilitate the fire station without a grant, cannot rent the required space on a consistent or as needed basis (due to geographical distance, availability, etc.), or there are other unique needs involved in the request.

 

2)         Financial Need − 0-50 points

 

A)        The total budget of the applicant as an available resource.

 

B)        Population of the area served by the applicant.

 

C)        Square miles served by the applicant. 

 

D)        The cost of the rehabilitation or construction being requested is prohibitively expensive given the above three factors.

 

b)         Those applicants receiving a grant under this program in a previous grant application cycle will not be considered until all applicants who have never received a grant but are requesting a grant have been considered as provided in Section 296.55(c). 

 

Section 296.70  Terms and Conditions of Grant Agreement

 

An applicant that has been approved to receive a grant under this program must enter into a grant agreement with the Office.  The grant agreement shall contain, at a minimum, the following terms:

 

a)         Grant recipients may receive advance payment for part or all of the cost of rehabilitation or construction of a fire station as approved as part of the grant application. 

 

b)         Grant funds shall be used exclusively for the purposes listed in Section 296.20 and shall be expended in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Part, the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act [30 ILCS 708], the GATA administrative rules (44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000), and the grant agreement. 

 

c)         In the event that all or a portion of the grant funds are not expended in the manner approved, the grant recipient, upon written notification from the Office, shall refund the amount of the grant award or applicable portions as listed in the written notification.  Recovery of grant funds shall be accomplished in accordance with the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act [30 ILCS 705].

 

d)         Use of grant funds shall be accounted for in accordance with standard accounting practices and the applicable provisions of the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act [30 ILCS 708] and the GATA administrative rules (44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000).  The grant recipient shall provide documentation concerning the rehabilitation or construction of a fire station as specified in the grant application, the cost of the rehabilitation or construction of a fire station, and the completion of the rehabilitation or construction project by the grant recipient's contractor or contractors.

 

e)         The grant recipient shall keep adequate records relating to its administration of the grant project, particularly relating to all incurred costs.  These records shall be available for audit by appropriate personnel within or on behalf of the Office and the State Auditor General.  All records shall be retained in accordance with the applicable provisions the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act [30 ILCS 708], the GATA administrative rules (44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000), and the State Records Act [5 ILCS 160].  At the conclusion of the grant period, grant recipients shall submit to the Office a report detailing how the grant proceeds were used.  This final expenditure report, to be submitted on a form supplied by the Office, shall be due not later than 90 days following completion of the grant project.

 

f)         The grant recipient is responsible for monitoring possession, use, condition and final disposition of the fire station constructed or rehabilitated with grant funds.

 

g)         Grant funds shall be included in the grant recipient's budget.

 

h)         The availability of grant funds is subject to availability of appropriated State funds.

 

i)          The grant recipient shall comply with any provisions that the grant recipient is required to include in any publicly bid contract for project work (e.g., scale of wages, liability insurance requirements, adherence to the Employment of Illinois Workers on Public Works Act [30 ILCS 570], etc.).

 

j)          In connection with and prior to the rehabilitation or construction and the subsequent operation and maintenance of fire station rehabilitation and construction grant program assisted fire stations, it shall be understood that the grant recipient is responsible for obtaining any and all necessary construction permits, licenses or forms of consent, as required by law.  Failure to obtain any required permits may jeopardize approved grant funding.

 

k)         The grant recipient and its selected contractors must observe and comply with the provisions of the Prevailing Wage Act [820 ILCS 130/4], which apply to the wages of laborers, mechanics and other workers employed in any public works, and with the prevailing wage requirements of the Illinois Procurement Code [30 ILCS 500/25-60].

 

l)          Pursuant to Section 2-105(A)(4) of the Human Rights Act [775 ILCS 5], the grant recipient and any contractors engaged for the project shall maintain a written sexual harassment policy that includes, at a minimum, the following information:

 

1)         the illegality of sexual harassment;

 

2)         the definition of sexual harassment under State law;

 

3)         a description of sexual harassment utilizing examples;

 

4)         the contractor's internal complaint process including penalties;

 

5)         the legal recourse, investigative, and complaint process available through the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission and directions on how to contact both; and

 

6)         protection against retaliation as provided by Sections 6-101 and 6-101.5 of the Illinois Human Rights Act [775 ILCS 5].  A copy of the policy shall be provided to the Department of Human Rights upon request.

 

m)        It shall be understood by the grant recipient that a representative or agent of the Office may make periodic inspections of the project as rehabilitation or construction progresses and that a final inspection may be required and if required will be made by a representative or agent of the Office prior to final payment of grant reimbursement to the grant recipient.

 

n)         Projects assisted with fire station rehabilitation and construction grant program funds shall be implemented in accordance with all applicable federal, State and local laws, ordinances and regulations relating to public agency expenditure of funds for public works projects and all other applicable laws.

 

o)         All financial records on approved projects must be maintained and retained, in accordance with the Grant Funds Recovery Act [30 ILCS 705] and the State Records Act [5 ILCS 160], by the grant recipient for possible State audit after final reimbursement payment is made by the Office.

 

p)         The grant recipient shall indemnify, protect, defend and hold harmless the Office from any and all liability, costs, damages, expenses, or claims thereof arising under, through or by virtue of the rehabilitation or construction of grant-assisted fire stations.

 

q)         The grant recipient shall certify that it will comply with the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act Apprenticeship Initiative [30 ILCS 559/20-20] and the Illinois Accessibility Code (71 Ill. Adm. Code 400) as part of the application.

 

r)          Any other terms or requirements specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity issued by the Office.

 

Section 296.75  Disbursement of Grant Funds

 

a)         A minimum of 50% of a grant awarded by the Office will be paid in advance to the grant recipient after the grant agreement is fully executed in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Illinois Comptroller's Office.

 

b)         The remainder of the grant award will be made subject to the grant recipient's submission and certification of eligible costs incurred, along with any documentation required by the Office.  Expenditure of grant funds advanced pursuant to this Part to the grant recipient cannot be claimed for reimbursement payments. However, the grant project may be funded by other grants so long as the same expenses sought for payment are not being reimbursed or covered a second time.

 

c)         Grant funds paid in advance must be kept in a separate interest-bearing account with a federally or Illinois regulated financial institution that is insured with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and maintained therein until used in the execution of the approved project. All interest earned on grant funds held by a grant recipient shall become part of the grant principal when earned, and be used for and in the same manner as the principal to fulfill the purposes and objectives of the grant.

 

d)         Pursuant to Section 45 of the State Finance Act [30 ILCS 105/45], for grants of $250,000 or more awarded to a grant recipient for capital construction costs or professional services, the grant recipient must provide written certification that the grant recipient is in compliance with the business enterprise program (BEP) practices for minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, and businesses owned by persons with disabilities of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act [30 ILCS 575] and the equal employment practices of Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act [775 ILCS 5/2-105]).

 

Section 296.80  Request for Reconsideration

 

a)         Those applicants whose grant applications are denied by the Committee shall be notified by mail.

 

b)         Notice of denial of a grant shall be deemed received on the date of the postmark. The applicant has 30 calendar days from that date to forward to the Committee a request for reconsideration.

 

c)         The request for reconsideration of a denial of a requested grant shall be submitted to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Attention:  Fire Station Rehabilitation and Construction Grant Program, 1035 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois  62703-4259 and shall be deemed submitted on the date of the postmark.

 

d)         The request for reconsideration of a denial of a requested grant may be accompanied by supporting documents and information not previously considered by the Committee.  The Committee shall review the request for reconsideration.  A denial of the request for reconsideration shall be final.  While a request for reconsideration is pending, the grant application that is the subject of the request for reconsideration shall be deemed denied.