At the Tuesday Gulf Breeze City Council meeting, City Manager Edwin “Buz” Eddy and Mayor Matt Dannheisser tipped their hats to two individuals who have stepped up to help save the city money.
The council personally thanked Gulf Breeze Fire Chief Shane Carmichael and Assistant Fire Chief Scott Kasper for their hard work in helping the city acquire grant monies from Walmart and the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Between the two entities, the fire department collectively garnered up nearly $21,000, which will help the department purchase/acquire much needed equipment.
“Shane’s dedicated service to the city has been like when we needed an IT guy, he was able to fix our computers. He’s our code enforcement officer, fire inspector, all the things that the city needs a chief to do,” Eddy told Carmichael on Tuesday. “And he’s passed that on to Kasper who’s been with the department for a long time.”
Kasper recently was handed the torch from Carmichael to help the department acquire grants, and helped the agency secure the two grants.
“What we always try to do is get our department to look for grant opportunities. And Scott has taken that on, with Shane’s direction, looking for grants both large and small,” Eddy said.
Mayor Dannheisser said writing grants isn’t in Kasper’s job description, but he took on the task anyways, essentially saving the city money.
“This isn’t something (Kasper) is required to do or is asked to do. (Kasper) took it upon himself to accomplish it. It’s another indication of the employees we have here,” Dannheisser said. “One thing that we all know that sets the City of Gulf Breeze apart from other governmental entities is that the people who work here aren’t employees. Rather, they’re passionate about the city. They’re passionate about trying to make it a better place.”