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Maintaining adequate staffing levels is tough for any public entity, but it has been extremely hard on the Tomball Fire Department (TFD). With a booming population comes increased traffic, more accidents and more calls for service.

“It’s a balancing act,” Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr said.

That’s why when word came of a federal grant program that would enable the department to hire more firefighters, Parr jumped at the chance to apply. The Tomball City Council gave Parr permission to apply for the grant and he recently heard from FEMA that their grant proposal was accepted.

A grant for a little more than $1.2 million spread out over two years, will enable Parr to hire nine fulltime firefighters.

“This is truly a game changer for the Tomball Fire Department,” he said. “It will provide continuity in our operations and groups of firefighters will be able to work together continuously.”

The department has always been able to maintain a high rating, even in the face of staffing shortages, Parr said, but the constant struggle to move parts and people around hasn’t been easy.

“The issue has been to have enough consistent staffing to keep two fire stations open for 24 hours,” he said. “In order to do that, we have to have two apparatuses staffed with a minimum of three people.”

Parr said that two out of every three days, station two on Holderreith Road is closed at night, due to understaffing.

“In order to mitigate that we have to have four full-time firefighters,” he said. “This will improve the safety of the community and the safety of our firefighters.”

The grant will be all of the salary and benefits for the nine firefighters, which Parr said will consist of three officers, three driver/operators and three firefighters. A cutback of part-time firefighter hours and continued growth of city and emergency service district revenue streams, will go towards ensuring the department will be able to keep the new firefighters after the two-year grant period. Parr said that he, Tomball City Manager George Shackelford and the Tomball City Council will work together over the next year to come up with a plan.

“We still continue to anticipate growth in revenues,” Parr said.

Parr said that once news arrived that TFD was being awarded the grant, he knew the community had won.

“We will now be able to provide our good, consistent service for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

TOMBALL - A straight shot to the Beltway from Tomball is inching closer to reality, as the Harris County Commissioners Court approved contracts with several engineering firms.

The expansion of SH 249 into a six-lane toll way, was approved by the court earlier this year and will run from the Tomball bypass to where the current freeway ends just north of Spring-Cypress Road.

The commissioners are looking at breaking ground about a year from now.

“I’m very excited,” Harris County Pct. 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said. “This road is a road that a lot of people have had a desire to see completed for awhile now.”

The court approved more than $7 million in expenditures for design plans, environmental studies, utilities, lighting, landscaping, signs and planning.

The overall plan is to eventually extend the highway through a sliver of Montgomery County, where SH 249 merges into FM 1774. The court is now looking at when the best time to complete the second phase, along with Montgomery County. Montgomery County is also in the beginning stages of looking into its part of the expansion.

“Everyone understands that as you increase mobility in that area that it increases the benefits for both counties as a whole,” Cagle said.

Harris County has planned all along to extend the highway north to Tomball, as there is already a huge median between the north and southbound lanes.

Current plans call for the toll road portion to be EZ tag only and will be the standard fee for Harris County toll roads.

The project was pushed along by Cagle, after being approached by members of the new 249 Partnership. The group includes members in Tomball, Magnolia and Navasota and exists to promote growth along the 249 corridor. They are currently working with TxDOT to promote expanding 249 through Navasota. That expansion would create a highway running from Houston all the way to College Station.

“This is a very good first step to make Texas A&M more connected to Houston and Harris County,” Cagle said.

Expenditures approved by the court for the expansion included nearly $2.8 million to engineers Binkley & Barfield, $1.5 million to Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville, $1.3 million to I.S. Engineers, $1 million to Aguirre & Fields, as well as several others listed under a million dollars.