Nearly $9 million is what the city of West Columbia has after receiving two allotments of money – one in October of last year and another this year, wltx.com reported.

This money is funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) which is the federal law that was passed in March 2021 to provide direct relief to Americans during COVID-times, and to rescue the economy.

Right now, according to a city official, the tentative plan is to give $3.5 million to Meeting Street (road improvement), $4.4 million to Mill Hill (road improvement), and $1 million to the new fire truck with a ladder, the report said.

The city official said they’ve tried fixing the fire department’s ladder truck many times but now it’s to a point where a new one is needed, according to the report.  

Four McMinnville Firefighters’ wives expressed their concerns to the McMinnville city Board of Mayor and Aldermen last week about the recent motion to purchase a fire truck that failed by a 4-3 vote in November, SouthernStandard.com reported.

Emily Barnes, Bailey Rose, Carly Ratley and Jenny Norrod, all wives of firefighters, took the podium to present the board a petition organized by Barnes asking them to purchase a new fire truck, the report said. Barnes submitted the petition to the board on Wednesday which has garnered 356 signatures in support, according to the report.

Here is a summary of their petition, according to the report:

• Fire industry standards state that trucks should be moved from the front line to the reserve at 15 years and should be fully retired at 25 years. McMinnville is out of compliance with this recommendation by two trucks. Please replace engine eight, a 29-year-old frontline, to the reserve so that you have three frontline engines that meet industry standards.
• With your surplus of $5 million, much of that being grant money, we are asking you to amend the budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year in order to purchase a new fire truck.
• Engine seven was to be retired in 2014. And engine eight, the engine that we’re asking you to replace as a frontline, should have been moved to the reserve in 2008, and it should have been retired in 2018.
• Keeping our fire trucks up to date allows our firefighters to do their jobs properly, safely and in a timely manner.
• For our city to provide our firefighters with a new, up-to-date, safe and in-standard truck, our fire department can do what they need to do to keep our city safe. You are also giving me, my family, firefighters’ families and the citizens of McMinnville the comfort in knowing our firefighters have what they need to do their jobs.

They each thanked the board for allowing them the time to present their concerns at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, the report said.

At its December 13 meeting, the Derby City Council approved a resolution authorizing bond financing to purchase a replacement fire engine for Derby Fire & Rescue in January 2023, DerbyInformer.com reported.

Pierce was selected as the manufacturer for the new engine, to be built at a cost of $864,087, the report said.

The council also authorized the purchase of emergency radios for the fire department at the same meeting.

A city official noted the radios are part of the final round of purchases to bring local departments in compliance with Sedgwick County as it phases into new emergency radio technology. All agencies in the county are making the switch to phase two compliant radios, the report said.

While Sedgwick County’s purchasing contract expired, Derby was able to utilize Johnson County to purchase the new radios at a total cost of $555,519, according to the report.

The Roseville Fire Department announced on Facebook last month that it took delivery of a brand new ambulance, the post said.

“We will be taking delivery of two additional ambulances in late January, and will have three new ambulances in service for our residents. These ambulances will be replacing our current ambulances that have over 200,000 miles on them,” according to the post.