April 23, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
The proposed Wolf Creek Public Safety building has not yet been developed but when it is the county will need a fire truck to serve that community.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, County Fire Chief Donny Green asked the budget committee to allocate from the county’s capital projects fund in the 2025-26 budget money to purchase either a new or used fire engine. But even if a newer fire engine is purchased, Wolf Creek would get a different truck already in the fleet.
“To be transparent the newest station doesn’t always get the newest fire truck. We put them in line of succession so it (newest truck) would go to the next one (station) that’s due to get a newer truck and then we shuffle them on down. That’s the way we have always done it and that’s the fairest way to do it,” said Chief Green.
With the support of the County’s Health, Education, and Public Welfare Committee, Chief Green laid out for the budget committee the two most immediate priority needs of the county fire department and a new or used fire truck is first on the list. Next, according to Chief Green is the need for allocating $250,000 in seed money previously committed for construction of a 2-bay public safety building on property of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wolf Creek.
“We are in the process of negotiating an agreement with the Corps of Engineers for that building,” said Chief Green.
“Based on current quotes, $231,000 should fund the proposed construction of a 2-bay public safety building at Wolf Creek with the seed money that has previously been allocated. We request that the county roll the cumulative $250,000 in seed money from capital projects into the budget for this building,” said Chief Green.
“The following immediate funding requests for capital projects that will provide the most critical overall benefits to the communities we serve are as follows,” said Green.
“A new or used fire engine purchase to allow placement of an engine at the new Wolf Creek Station that is expected to be constructed within the next 12 months. Minimum allocation for a used fire engine is $250,000. Minimum allocation for a new/demo fire engine is $450,000. A decision to buy used or new is based on the following factors,” said Chief Green.
“Availability of a quality used fire engine-with long lead times on new fire engine orders, there is a sharp increase in demand for used fire apparatus. This impacts both price and availability”.
“We cannot obligate a hold on a used/demo fire engine unless funds are allocated. The demand is high for these fire engines and vendors will not put apparatus on hold without some form of obligation to purchase”
“Lead time on build of a new fire apparatus is at least 18 months,” he said.
Chief Green said he is not opposed to the county purchasing a used fire truck, rather than new. For example, the used fire truck the county purchased from the City of Smithville in 2018 is still in use today and “it has made us a really good fire engine,” said Chief Green.
With the City of Smithville considering the possibility of replacing a 2001 engine, Chief Green said the county fire department would be interested in eventually purchasing that city fire truck.
Meanwhile EMS Director Trent Phipps is asking the budget committee to fund the purchase of a new ambulance at $275,000 which if approved would not be expected to arrive for another two to three years.
“DeKalb EMS would like to secure the funds to purchase a new ambulance, “said Phipps. “With build times being approximately two years, it is important that we purchase the next ambulance as soon as possible. I am requesting $275,000 to purchase a new ambulance that meets the standards of the current fleet,” said Director Phipps.
Budget committee member Tony (Cully) Culwell asked if it would be cheaper to fund a chassis remount rather than buy a new ambulance.
“Money is tight. I would like a quote (on chassis remount). In some of the smaller counties, that is what they are doing. We can’t compete with the big cities. We have to look for ways to cut costs,” said Commissioner Culwell.
The county is expected to take delivery this summer on another ambulance which was authorized for purchase and ordered during the 2022-23 budget year but not yet paid for at $225,000. These two ambulance purchases ($225,000 for one on the way and $275,000 for a new ambulance) puts the total EMS local capital projects funding request at $500,000 for 2025-26.
Within the last few days, DeKalb EMS took delivery on yet another long-awaited ambulance which was mostly funded through a 2023 Community Development Block Grant. Two years ago, the county applied for this CDBG grant to purchase a new ambulance at that time equipped with a Stryker automatic loading system, Pro 2 ambulance cot, Stryker Stair Chair, Zoll heart monitor, and ventilator. The grant totaled $352,497 with a 16% grant match by the county of $67,142 plus a $27,481 budget amendment which was recently approved due to higher costs putting the local expenditure for this ambulance at $94,623.
Sheriff Patrick Ray also asked the budget committee to fund four new sheriff’s department patrol cars totaling $175,000. “I don’t yet know what the state bid will be for the vehicles, but we will fund the blue lights and emergency equipment for them out of the sheriff’s department maintenance budget,” said Sheriff Ray.
The budget committee has not yet acted on Tuesday night’s budget requests.