Council Bonds Over $800,000 For New Fire Truck

The Eatontown Council has passed an $807,500 bond ordinance for the purchase fo a new fire truck for the Eatontown Fire Department.

The total price of the truck, which will replace two of the department's older apparatuses, is $850,000.

Every councilmember with the exception of Councilman Dennis Connelly, vote to pass the ordinance. Councilman Connelly said he was "not in favor of the purchase" and thought the truck's $850,000 price tag was too expensive.

He said he supported replacing one of the older trucks with the a new one priced closer to $500,000.

The new truck will be a quintuple combination pumper or quint-style apparatus that doubles as an engine and ladder truck. Eatontown Fire Department Second Assistant Chief William Mego has said the department would not need to purchase new equipment for the truck and would use existing tools from the older engine trucks that are in good working order. 

Mego explained that two of the department's two of the department's fire engines are 23 and 27-years-old and need to be replaced. He said the suggested shelf life of a fire engine is 20 years before it should be replaced.

The fire department's fleet of trucks currently consists of three fire engines, with the third purchased in 1996 and a ladder truck purchased in 2006.