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NORWAY — Selectmen accepted a $3,000 non-matching grant from the Maine Municipal Association to pay for safety equipment for the fire department.

The Ed MacDonald Safety Grant Program is part of the MMA Workers Compensation Fund. The $3,000 is the maximum award per application. The MMA has awarded the safety grant since 1999.

Fire Chief David Knox, who applied for the grant in April and just learned of the award, reviewed what he plans to spend the funds on. Much of the funds would go toward traffic control equipment, such as extra signage, traffic control devices and safety vests for personnel.

According to the application, the equipment to be purchased includes emergency/road closed signs and stands, LED stop/slow paddles, Hi-Viz stop/slow paddles, road traffic cones with dual reflective stripes, traffic vests and cone topper arrows for traffic directives.

“The safety equipment is needed to keep the first responders safer and more visible night and day as emergency calls come in for traffic accidents and weather incidents that cause the closure of roads and detouring of traffic,” Knox wrote in the application to the MMA.

In addition to accepting the grant, the Select Board approved Knox’s plan to use funds out of the fire equipment reserve account, which would get repaid when the MMA receives proof of purchase.

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