Hannibal still looking for ways to pay for future firefighter salaries

HANNIBAL — While Mayor Barry Louderman reiterated the city’s commitment to increase Hannibal Fire Department salaries and to reopen Fire Station 2 at Huckleberry Park, both the funding mechanism to pay for the raises in the future and the timeline to reopen the station are still both up in the air.

At Tuesday night’s Hannibal City Council meeting, two candidates for office on April 8 both inquired about the status of the two issues.

Mayoral candidate Darrell McCoy asked about when Station 2 would be open and Louderman it would still be at least six months. The station was closed December due to staff shortages caused by attrition in the department.

“I know they want to get all the new people that they’re hiring training fully before they restaff it,” Louderman said.

Not only the hiring, but also the retention of the new firefighters comes into play. HFD has had several instances where the department pays for training, only to see that firefighter leave for a higher paying job in another department, sometimes in a matter of months.

April Azotea, who is running for Ward 2 councilman, asked about state legislation the city was counting on to cover the pay increases granted to firefighters last month. City Manager Lisa Peck said HB 866, which would grant Hannibal the authority to enact a public safety sales tax to fund the police and fire departments if its voters approve it in August, had failed in committee, but further legislation is pending that could bolster the city’s ability to pay for the raises they had granted.

Louderman said the more than $600,000 needed to cover the first year of raises would come from reserves, but said tax increases would have to be considered to cover future costs. Louderman opted not to run for re-election and is not on the April 8 ballot.

In other business, councilmen heard a report from the Hannibal Regional Economic Development Council regarding federal grant the organization wants to use to redevelop blighted properties in Marion and Ralls counties.

Maria Kuhns, executive director of the HREDC, said a $700,000 Brownfield grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows for redevelopment of blighted and potentially contaminated areas. The grant provides for environmental site assessments that could identify disposed contaminants, such as gasoline, asbestos and lead-based paints.

“The purpose of the grant is to take some properties that we’re not seeing a lot of movement on and kind of clear them up for development,” she said.

The survey is set to start in April and runs through September 2027. Kuhns said she plans to inform property owners of the assessments as well as seek council input for specific neighborhoods in Hannibal.