Butler City Council voted Thursday to apply for another federal grant to help cover the salaries of four firefighters for three years.

Council members unanimously voted to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a second round of Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant funding.

Fire Chief Chris Switala said the grant would reimburse the city for the entry-level salaries of four firefighters, and the city would have to pay their contractual pay increases.

Council agreed to pay John Sly Grant Writing Services up to $3,500 to prepare the application.

Sly is a volunteer firefighter in Chester County and a professional grant writer.

The city's current SAFER grant, which supplements the salaries of four firefighters, expires in February 2022. That grant requires the city to pay 25% of the salaries in the first two years and 65% in the third year.

Those local matches have been eliminated from this round of SAFER grants due to the addition of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money, Switala said.

He said Sly told him that competition for the grant money could be fierce if larger cities apply to avoid potential firefighter layoffs due to revenue declines caused by COVID-19.

The applications are due in March. FEMA is expected to award the grants by the end of September, he added.