The council had to take up an item this month that nobody would have chosen to, but it had to be done - a new fire truck. Those big ticket items make every city cringe, but with things as they are economically it's even worse. Nonetheless we've found ourselves down one engine due to ongoing mechanical failures so it had to be addressed. What's worse is it was our newest and first out engine. Luckily we have two older engines in good working order so the need is not an emergency, but it's also not one to save up for a while. The two remaining engines are 10 and 12 years old and the older of the two had to be brought out of reserve status and back to ready.
Chief Baker and the department did a lot of research and finally landed on an E-One brand engine, the same brand we've had such good luck with on our current two trucks. The apparatus that failed us was from a manufacturer called American LaFrance. The cost of the new engine is $459,289.00 and the council approved it's purchase so it will arrive in 6-8 months. The financing will be secured with a short term tax note of not more than seven years, but I'm hopeful that we'll be able to put down up to $150,000 and shorten the term. It's also possible that a temporary fire department budget cut could fund a good portion of the payments to try to make it as painless to the tax payers as possible. We'll be able to determine that better in a few months when our audit is returned and the first payment will not be due until the 2011-2012 budget year.
While the timing is not ideal it's needed for public safety and that of our fire fighters and an advanced fire suppression feature on board will help reduce homeowners insurance rates in the future.
In other business we awarded a contract to a construction manager at risk for the new fire station. While the station is still in the architectural stage the CMAR will work with the architect to develop cost options so a final plan can be made. A couple computer renditions I've seen are looking good.
Last month Mayor Hollarn brought up an idea to form a committee of citizens to come up with some ideas on what makes Joshua unique and what we can do to separate ourselves from other cities. The council approved the formation of that committee this month and I'm excited to see what they come up with in the coming months. This is all part of our push to develop the city economically and improve quality of life.
Speaking of quality of life, our new city park will have it's official ribbon cutting on December 4th at 2pm so please plan to attend. The barricades have been removed from the entrances and people have begun enjoying it's features already. It's been wonderful to see families so anxious to get out there and play.
Also on December 4th starting at 6pm we'll have our annual Christmas Parade. It will start this year at Staples Elementary and run North on Main St. to the new park where we'll have some activities going on for the community to enjoy some fellowship in our new space together. Be sure and buy some hot chocolate from the Joshua Citizens Police Academy Alumni Associate booth!
A.J.
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