The Lowndes County Fire Department will apply for a federal Assistance to Firefighters grant to purchase a $500,000 tanker and pumper fire truck to replace one of the department’s older tanker vehicles.
County Fire Coordinator Neal Austin presented the idea to the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors at its regular meeting Wednesday morning before going through with the application process. Austin says once the grant application is started, he will know what the county match would be in the event the grant is awarded.
The motion to approve LCFD to apply for the grant was made by District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders and seconded by Board President Trip Hairston. It passed unanimously.
Austin told The Dispatch he asked the board for approval before applying for the grant because he wanted the members to be informed of what LCFD is doing to update its current equipment and because if the grant is given, it might only cover a portion of the cost.
“If the fire department and its funds cannot service it, we would have to ask the Board of Supervisors for extra money,” Austin said. “We want to give them that information upfront.”
The new truck will carry up to 3,000 gallons of water and pump up to 1,250 gallons per minute. Austin added the current truck the department has is becoming more expensive to fix as new parts become scarce and the metal lining of the water tank has begun to thin out.
This has caused leaks and ultimately rusted other areas of the truck, causing further damage. But it may take up to two years before the department is awarded any money should it receive the grant, Austin said.
“We’re looking at a year or so out, so there is still time to look at it in the budgeting process, to put it on as an expenditure maybe for next year,” he said. “So those kinds of things so they can have in their minds.”
The AFG grant is provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to the FEMA website, the program’s goal is to assist with the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and other emergency medical service organizations. Since the program began in 2001, AFG has helped to provide funds for equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources.
District 5 supervisor, Leroy Brooks, said the decision to consent to the department applying for the funds came as an easy decision when considering the county’s needs moving forward.
“The need for this new pumper is just another added component to what we’ve already talked about,” Brooks said. “We’ve talked about industry development (west of the) river and a more viable volunteer fire department has been part of the discussion because eventually, we’re going to have to move up another step with all the development out there. So there’s just growing pains. You know, if you’re going to play big, you’re going to pay big.”
In other business, the county affirmed a land swap of 65.58 acres of 16th Section land at the corner of Charleigh Ford Jr. Road and Artesia Road. The Lowndes County School District owned the land. LCSD voted to swap in October as part of a local incentives package for Indiana-based Aluminum Dynamics to construct an aluminum mill.
“That was a formality,” Hairston said. “There was some 16th Section land within that Megasite or around the industrial part where the aluminum plant campus is going to be. We want to make sure that we follow all the guidelines that we need to follow, follow the right protocols and make sure it goes to the proper boards and proper resolutions in place.”
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