Katy applies for grant to hire firefighters

Three of the firefighters would be posted at Station No. 1 to bring it up to the standard level of 17 firefighters, Summers said.

“They’re entry-level,” Summers said of the new firefighters. “We will have some new officers but they will be [promoted] from within.”

City Administrator Byron Hebert said if the city gets the grant and hires the new firefighters, officials will need to devise a plan to pay them when the grant expires.

“It’s only a two-year grant,” Hebert said. “I’ve got to make sure we put a plan in place that the city can still afford [the firefighters]. When the grant is gone, we need to keep them on.”

Hebert said city officials are expecting an increase in tax revenue from new businesses, including Typhoon Texas, a 25-acre water park north of Katy Mills.

“We can absorb [the salaries] when these new businesses open,” Hebert said.