The fire department needs a battalion chief vehicle that will be shared among the three battalion chiefs who will work 24-hour shifts followed by 48 hours off, Centers said.
The fire department typically leases its vehicles through Enterprise, but after two months, the company has been unable to locate a medium-duty, quad cab truck needed to carry a wide range of emergency equipment, he said.
It would take at least one year to order a truck and that’s “not a good option,” according to Centers.
He asked council members to OK the fire department working with another company besides Enterprise. He said the vehicle would be leased from an established car dealership and the contract would include all the warranties.
Council gave Centers approval to begin negotiations, through council will have to OK the lease contract.
Credit: Charlie Riedel
Credit: Charlie Riedel
Buchanan said he has talked to Monroe Superintendent J. Robert Buskirk about the district purchasing a therapy dog and one of the police department’s school resource officers handling the dog. The superintendent said a therapy dog would be invaluable because it could help students through stressful periods in their lives, and open up communications with school resource officers.
The dog would be owned by the district, but when school wasn’t in session, the dog would go home with the officer, he said.
The police department has contacted local animal shelters for a potential therapy dog and plans to use a local trainer, Buchanan said. The training would take about one year, he said.
Mayor Keith Funk called the partnership between the police department and the school district “a creative solution to a lot of things that happen.”
Buchanan said he was “excited about the potential” of the collaboration.
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