Fire chief asks city council for new ladder truck; thinks OU should pitch in to buy it
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor
May 15, 2008
Athens Fire Chief Robert Troxel told Athens City Council on Monday that he believes Ohio University should help pay for a new ladder truck for the city’s Fire Department.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask for Ohio University to help us,” Troxel said.
The city will need to purchase a new ladder truck in 2010 or 2011, and the truck is expected to cost $1 million.
“The need for the truck principally is because of the university,” Troxel added. Most of the calls where the truck would be needed are on campus, he said.
He believes the city should raise the issue with OU and see if the university can contribute. If OU can pay $2 million to run its own police department for the campus, surely it can contribute something toward fire protection for the campus, Troxel said.
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said he has raised the issue with university officials, and will bring it up again.
The issue over the fire truck came up as part of a discussion over new equipment needed for the Fire Department. Troxel is hoping to purchase a new pick-up truck that he would use to drive to fires and carry equipment. If the city purchases this new truck, he would move his old truck to the Columbus Road fire station, where it could also be used to haul equipment and tow two equipment trailers that could be stored there.
Several members of council have raised concerns about this purchase, though, asking if Troxel could find a vehicle with better gas mileage and whether the purchase needs to be made this year.
Troxel said he supports getting more energy-efficient vehicles for the city, but said purchasing a vehicle with better gas mileage (that would not even meet all of his needs) would not save the city money because the higher price would be greater than the money saved on fuel costs. He added that he would like to see the city put together a plan for purchasing energy-efficient vehicles and making other changes that benefit the environment.
Council made no decision on the truck, and will continue to discuss the issue as well as the ladder truck issue, at future meetings.
In related topics at the meeting, Troxel said he would like to see the city require all rental units to have carbon-monoxide detectors.
Asked if the city should require existing rentals to add sprinkler systems, Troxel said it would be a “tough sell” because of the expense, but it would definitely improve fire safety in the city.
Troxel was also asked why his officers seem to have a fire truck parked at the Kroger grocery store so often. He responded that the officers have to purchase groceries for the fire stations frequently, as firefighters are on duty 24 hours a day.
“We actually use the driving time as training,” he added. The firefighters have to log a certain number of hours every year driving the trucks for mandatory training, and the trips to the store help meet this requirement, he said.
ALSO AT THE MEETING, council heard from local architect Mike Noel about the new Celebration Garden that has been constructed on city property behind the Holiday Inn hotel (which Noel co-owns) on East State Street.
Noel said that area can be used as a wedding garden, since it includes a structure where weddings can be held, and is landscaped with trees and flowers. It can also be used for other events, he said.
Former city Recreation Director Kevin Schwartzhoff agreed that if the Rotary Club took care of the flowers and built the area, the city would cut the grass and pay the electric bills, Noel said.
Several members of council raised concerns about how Schwartzhoff made this agreement, though, because council has to approve any lease agreement.
“I would have liked to have heard about it sooner,” said Nancy Bain, who represents the Third Ward on council. She questioned how much it will cost the city, if the city is now responsible for renting out the garden space (it is) and why council never heard about this before.
She also requested that council take a field trip to look at the garden area, and the other members agreed to do this at a future meeting.
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