Campbell may get a new firetruck

By Jeanne Starmack

starmack@vindy.com

CAMPBELL

The city is in the finals to win a grant for a new firetruck.

Right now, said Fire Chief Nick Hrelec, it’s a waiting game to see whether the city will get a $730,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for a combined ladder-pumper truck.

It will replace the department’s ladder truck, which dates to 1971, and its pumper truck, which dates to 1978, Hrelec said.

He said the city wrote for the grant last year.

Hrelec told city council at a recent meeting that FEMA wanted to know if the city would take $651,000, and asked for a resubmission of the grant application.

He said Tuesday that he indicated the city could not take the reduced amount.

He said he called to explain that the city needs the higher amount because it must buy a specific type of truck. The truck fits in the city’s garage bay and has a single axle that makes turns in the city’s narrow streets easier, he said.

The city also has to come up with a 5 percent match to pay for the truck, Hrelec told council. That will be between $32,000 and $37,000.

The city’s finance director, Sherman Miles, said a loan would be the way to go if a state commission that is overseeing the city while its in fiscal emergency allows it. The city has to get the commission’s approval before it incurs any more debt.

Hrelec said FEMA does not indicate when it will announce the grant winners.