News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
An Allentown, New York fire truck could soon become part of the Celina fleet after Alderman approved the fire department to potentially spend $30,000 Tuesday night.
Two of Celina’s trucks are currently out of service, leaving the city with only one truck. Russell West of the Celina Volunteer Fire Department said the first step would be to fly to New York to see the truck.
“Our thoughts right now is, if we can possibly sell two trucks we may not even need any money,” West said. “We technically just need money in between, you know basically selling the trucks that we’ve got.”
West said the asking price for the truck is $30,000, but he believes he can get it for $25,000. He said the additional $5,000 he is asking from the board is to cover having the fire truck brought to Celina.
“We may drive it home,” West said. “Our only worry about driving it home is if something tears up halfway back we’d be stuck.”
West said the drive back is 16 hours. He said the department would opt for freight transportation if it is within the $30,000.
The department in New York recently stopped using the truck when they purchased a new one. The alderman unanimously approved the expenditure. Collins said this was an investment for the city.
“The fire department is one of those things you may never need, hopefully you never need in your life, but when you need it, you need it,” Collins said.
Celina Mayor Luke Collins said he already made sure they were doing things by the book.
“I know they have spoke with the Comptroller’s Office about it and with MTAS about it, and they said no problem as long as the Aldermen are okay with it,” Collins said.
West said now that funds were secured he would reach out to the Allentown Fire Department and make an offer. He said a final decision should be made within the next week.
In other business, the board voted to rezone Industrial Board property to residential. The board also presented a key to the city to Mark Holman for bringing the Christmas Truck to Celina. The truck is decorated with Christmas lights and decorations and plays Christmas music over a speaker attached to the roof.
