The lopsided 48-to-2 vote approved $3.8 million to buy five new trucks for the town's three volunteer firehouses.

"We're happy to get the support of the Town Council and Board of Finance," said Kevin Catalano, spokesman for the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department.

This is the first time since 2009 Monroe will get new fire trucks. The vehicles will be delivered to the fleet in 2018.

At present, there are 13 trucks among the three firehouses -- Stevenson, Stepney and Monroe. Only the Stepney firehouse will downsize by one truck after the new addition.

Monday night's vote to buy the trucks came at a time when the struggles of maintaining and repairing the town's fleet has presented challenges in recent years, Catalano said.

"It makes it difficult," he said. "We take a lot of the equipment off the main trucks and put it in the back of a pickup truck, which is not ideal."

First Selectman Steve Vavrek said it is important to make sure the town's fire department has the proper equipment to do its job.

"Public safety has to be our No.1 priority when it comes to vehicle maintenance," he said. "It's imperative we stay on top of this."

It used to be adding to the fire department's fleet was a challenge, but that has not been the case for the last two acquisitions, Monroe Volunteer Fire Department President Chris Krize said.

"The process we just went through for both '09 and '17 were very similar," Krize said. "They were both bulk purchases, so we approached it in a very similar manner."

The city is paying BRW Architects $770,800, which is approximately 9.6 percent of the estimated construction cost of $7,975,800. The set fee will not change regardless of actual construction costs.

The fire department has funding to begin design of two new fire stations in fiscal year 2016-17. Lewisville voters approved the relocation of Station 3 as part of the 2015 bond program. It is being relocated from 195 Corporate Drive to Round Grove Road in an effort to improve response times to the growing southwestern part of the City. Funding was also approved in the Fiscal year 2016-17 Fire Control District to add an eighth fire station on Josey Lane to better serve east Lewisville and Castle Hills.

The projected timeline for the projects is based on the Construction Manager at Risk being selected by the end of February, and BRW completing the construction plans by the end of June. Construction would begin in September, and be completed by September 2018.

"I'm trying to change and influence a business model that the fire service has been slow to embrace," Brown said. "We have to be smarter with how we deploy our resources."

He said the chores of the department have not changed - fighting fires and assisting those who need medical aid.

"We still need boots on the ground; we still need apparatus to put fires out," Brown said. "How we get to that is technology and data. We're looking to be smarter with what resources we do have."

Among the changes coming to the Hemet Fire Department are the addition of a peak-demand paramedic squad and returning full service to the city's easternmost station.

The peak-demand squad is expected to start service this week. It will work primarily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the three days per week that, according to data, are the busiest. A two-person team will handle medical aid cases, freeing engines for more serious calls.

"We are going to be highly flexible, highly mobile, highly visible," Brown said. "It will provide us with some additional flexibility that today we don't have."

Station 5 on Hemet Street was closed as a cost-cutting move in December 2008. It reopened in February 2015 with a two-member squad that could respond to medical calls but not fires. Starting Feb. 12, the station will have an engine and be fully staffed with three firefighters per shift.

The staff is excited about the changes, said Capt. David Prietto, president of the Hemet Fire Fighters Association.

"Everyone is pretty happy to finally see the department moving forward," he said. "We were in such a slump for so many years; we're finally getting our heads above water."

When finished, the department will have four new vehicle bays, an exercise room and several new offices.

Oskaloosa Fire Chief Mark Neff says that he expects the new part of the station to be ready for use by the end of February.

"We started construction back in March of 2016, and we are roughly 80 percent complete on the total project. Currently, we are at the phase where the building is all blocked in," he said. "The roof is on the building, but the final finished metal roof will be put in within the next two weeks. They are working on finished products like ceilings, paint and light fixtures. We are on schedule, as of today (Friday), to be move in by the end of February."

Neff says that once construction is completed on the new area of the building, then work will begin to renovate the existing portion of the fire station.

"The renovation will take approximately two to three months to complete, so realistically we are looking at May or June to have everything completely finished," he said.

Once all of the construction is done at the station, Neff says that there are a few more projects in the making. Nothing is set in stone, but he says that OFD has been talking with several city officials.

"When we get everything settled down, there are some more things in the works. The station is equipped to accept an aerial device, and that is a conversation that is ongoing," he said. "No decisions have been made yet, but we are actively looking at used aerial devices. There are a number of things that have to come together to make that happen.

On the referendum, the project had a maximum spending cap of $3.1 million, and the contract was awarded to DDVI, Inc. of Indianola at just over $2.8 million. Neff said he has been impressed with the work done.

"They have done a fantastic job for us, they are very good to work with. We are very happy with the general contractor and the subs that have been working in the station," he said.

After the construction is completed, Neff hopes that the biggest positive result will be more space for large vehicles, as well as a safer environment for the firefighters.