The Goodman Area Fire Protection District will have a new fire engine at the beginning of next year after a 3-2 vote last month.
“It’s the first new truck that we’ve ever got to purchase,” said Fire Chief Jerry Richmond.
The a new engine will be built by Precision Fire Apparatus Inc., in Camdenton, Mo., on a Kenworth chassis. It will pump 1,500-gallons-per-minute.
“It’s set up to take us years into the future,” Richmond said.
When the engine arrives the company will bring it down for a three-day training, and the approximately 20 members of the fire district will learn how to use it. The 1966 engine will be taken out of service as part of the agreement.
A $256,500 Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for the bulk of the purchase, while a 5 percent local match covers the rest.
Richmond said taxpayers would get the $260,000 engine for $13,000 in local funds.
The truck will have new equipment, but they will move over airpacks funded by an earlier FEMA grant from the same program.
The divided vote split the five member board in a 3-2 decision. Firefighters developed a spec list 40 pages long and received three bids and officers made their recommendation to the board. The two best bidders made presentations. The third bidder was $40,000 higher and was not considered.
Last month, they took the vote and the fire engine ordered, but at their August meeting the board chair, Marshall Long, resigned, saying he didn’t see the numbers the same as other board members.
Long estimates a $7,200 difference between the two final options and when a board member pulled a ready-made motion from his pocket for a vote, he felt firefighter board members were swayed by the chief’s endorsement. The majority of the five-member board also serve as volunteer firefighters.
“I was very uncomfortable with it,” Long said.
Another board member will be appointed until Long’s term expires.
“It’s unfortunate that Marshall resigned,” Richmond said.
