The Clarendon Fire Department convinced a majority of the select board to spend $300,000 in federal funds to cover the purchase of a replacement tanker truck, RutlandHerald.com reported.
The board voted 3-2 last week to approve the spending of $300,000 in American Recovery Plan Act funds on the department’s proposal, the report said.
A Clarendon fire official said at the September 26 board meeting that the department seeks to replace a 1991 tanker truck which was used when the department bought it. The older truck can carry 1,300 gallons of water. The vehicle he seeks to replace it with could carry 2,000 gallons, the report said.
The new truck likely would be used often at crash scenes, being fitted with a hydraulic extraction tool and parked so as to shield emergency workers from any oncoming traffic, the report said.
It will cost $330,000, according to the report. The department’s fire truck fund currently has about $50,000 in it. The department puts $15,000 in the fund annually. A city official said the town will receive a total of $721,300 in ARPA funds. To date, it has $486,960.