City Council delays final vote on aerial ladder fire truck

Luke Klink

Facing multiple funding plans for a new $448,102 aerial ladder fire truck and nagging uncertainty about an application for a federal USDA grant that will help pay part of the vehicle’s cost, the Ladysmith Common Council delayed, Monday, a final vote on the purchase for one more week.

The council scheduled a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. next Monday to vote on buying the aerial ladder unit to replace a 41-year-old “snorkel” truck.

Alderman Marty Reynolds argued against a resolution “supporting purchase of an aerial ladder truck.” Saying he was only opposing the resolution and not the truck, he asked where the money would come from.

Reynolds said the city has not yet been informed it has been awarded the grant. He added the resolution also calls for the police and fire commission to “memorialize its commitment” to transfer $40,000 per year during each of the next two years. He said the fire department definitely needs the truck, commending firefighters for an exceptional job of maintaining the equipment. He wanted the council to come right out and commit to the purchase instead of routing funding through the city’s police and fire commission.

More of this story appears in the Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, print edition of the Ladysmith News.