Marcheterre is heading to Wisconsin this month to make a final check on a new, $1 million, 100-foot ladder truck expected to be delivered early next year by the Pierce Manufacturing company.

“But one issue is the new truck ... it's about 20,000 (pounds) heavier than the 65,000-pound truck we have now,” Marcheterre said. “So we need to make sure the floor can handle the weight.”

The new truck will replace a vehicle at the end of its 30-year recommended lifespan. Marcheterre said he’s still working out the best type of concrete that would serve the station and whether a drain can be added into the bay area.

The floor of the fire department was laid in the mid-1800s, likely with a combination of coal cinders and ash, Borough President Elaine Lippke said.

“One of the things we’ll have to have looked at is what exactly is underneath that concrete,” she said. “The good thing is there’s no cellar under the bays, so nothing is going to fall through that floor.”

Lippke estimates the cost of a new floor could run more than $7,000, though exact figures won’t be known until bids start coming in.

BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- Architects' drawings and estimates show that the cost to include a dispatch center at the proposed new Fire Station No. 2 at Richmond Road and Park East Drive, would cost less than adding dispatch to the current police annex at the city hall complex.

Beachwood Fire Department Chief Patrick Kearns told City Council' s Safety and Public Health Committee Monday that making a dispatch center out of what had been planned as space for Beachwood police to use in an unspecified way, would cost about $230,000.

The space that would house the dispatch center was largely part of the original drawing's footprint, but does include some added space as one wall would be built out eight feet from where it was originally planned.

The new space would include four seats for dispatchers, a locker room, break room and an office. Wiring would be fully completed, however, to allow dispatch space to expand to as many as eight seats. Possible expansion is crucial as the city is looking to build a regional center that would also serve other communities and bring the city income.

The $230,000 cost does not include electronics. Police Chief Keith Winebrenner said the estimated cost of adding electronics to the police annex, which also remains in the running as possible home to a dispatch center, is $534,000.

In October, about $300,000 was donated to both the Lake Tanglewood Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) and Randall County Fire Department, which they used to purchase two trucks.

"This grant funds different areas, including [a fire] apparatus (that goes from small brush trucks to large brush trucks), fire engines and tanker trucks," Troy Ducheneaux, Texas A&M Forest Service Regional Fire Coordinator, said. 

Through the grant, Lake Tanglewood's VFD purchased a specialized brush truck that was needed to fight fires. 

"Lake Tanglewood was awarded a grant for a small brush truck which allows them to have a $100,000 worth of the grant," said Ducheneaux. "If they include what's called a compressed foam system, they can get an additional $20,000 on top of that and it will allow them to boost their abilities to fight fires in their response area." 

The Randall County Fire Department was also able to purchase a new fire engine. 

Before, they had a 20-year-old engine truck that needed about $10,000 worth of mechanical and engine repairs.