City of Plymouth and Northville officials, firefighters and members of the Northville Plymouth Fire Advisory Board were on hand Monday to welcome the arrival of the the new 101-foot Rosenbauer Cobra aerial bucket truck.

A joint purchase of about $807,000, the truck will be shared and used between Northville and Plymouth. It will be paid for on a split based on annual run volume between the two cities. At this point, the truck will be on a 60/40 split with the city of Plymouth paying 58 percent and the city of Northville paying 42 percent, according to Northville and Plymouth officials.

In the next few weeks, residents will see firefighters training and using the new truck to get a feel of how to operate it. The truck replaces the current 1980 aerial bucket truck.

For more information, view www.hometownlife.com

St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green wrote a column proposing that city leaders ask voters to approve a $25 million no tax increase GO bond. The last time firefighters received any substantial capital equipment was 16 years ago through the 1999 GO bond issue.

She writes, "Our firefighters provide essential services to the community. Yet, vital equipment needed to do their jobs is not supported by the ½ cent sales tax in which the police, parks and recreation and the wards receive annually. Firefighters receive no dedicated capital funds to address critical equipment deficiencies, and for some fire equipment a one-year lead time is needed."

For taxpayers, the tax levy was decreased and property taxes were lowered during the recent recession and after. The tax levy dropped from a high 30 cents to a low 13 cents today. The city should not ask taxpayers to increase property taxes until first asking them to make full use of the current levy.

According to the St. Louis Development Corporation, the consolidation of the Refuse Department is ready to be finalized this spring, also generating a need for funds.

For more information, view www.stlamerican.com

More than two dozen New Jersey firefighters are suing five fire truck manufacturers and a siren maker alleging the noise from the emergency vehicles' sirens have lead to an "irreversible" loss of hearing.

The lawsuit was removed from state Superior Court and filed in federal court in Newark on Dec. 4 on behalf of 34 current or former firefighters in Elizabeth, Linden, Bayonne, Union, Ridgewood, Kearny, Cranford and West New York. The suit names American LaFrance LLC, Kovatch Mobile Equipments Corp., Mack Trucks Inc., Pierce Manufacturing Inc. and Seagrave Fire Apparatus LLC, as well as the siren maker Federal Signal Corp.

The lawsuit alleges the firefighters, who were each employed by the departments for decades, "have suffered irreversible hearing loss and a permanent decrease of their hearing" making them unable "to enjoy life's pleasures."

According to the suit, the fire truck manufacturers failed to test and develop crew cabs or install after-market modifications that would allow for safe sound levels for the firefighters while responding to calls in fire department vehicles, including pump and ladder trucks and paramedic vehicles.

The suit further alleges Federal Signal Corp. knew or should have known the sirens were "inherently dangerous" to a human's hearing and failed to develop a safe product.

Each firefighter is seeking $150,000 in damages as well as court costs associated with the suit. 

For more information, view www.nj.com