This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.
There was good, bad, and what can be considered mixed news announced at Monday’s North Annville Township supervisors meeting concerning North Annville Township Fire Company #1.
The good news is that the new $1.2 mllion fire truck for the fire company is expected to be delivered in or around August, according to deputy fire company chief Mark Sallada.
The bad news is a tanker truck needs to be replaced now instead of its scheduled replacement in 2032, and the mixed news, depending on the particular position held by a township resident, is a decision to sell the former Union Water Works building.
Good news
“The other good news is we sold the tanker (6-1) that was on the original plan. That unit did get sold. It is serving in a little town north of Pittsburgh, is where that’s at. The utility that you’re placing that truck will be here around September of this year, right in that general area. So we’re on track for that,” Sallada said.
The sale of company assets was part of the plan following the merger of Bellegrove and Union Water Works fire companies on Jan. 1, 2025.
Bad news
The bad news concerns a sooner-than-expected need to replace a tanker truck that has developed problems with the tank, according to Sallada.
“We have a problem with the dump valves going out the side of the truck. They would jam up every now and then and we knew this for a little while, felt a bit more investigation on it, and the center of the tank was sagging,” Sallada said. “It’s a fiberglass tank. Back when that truck was built, they put fiberglass tanks in these trucks instead of polytanks like they do now. So the tank sags.”
Sallada said fire company officials investigated “a ton of options” concerning the vehicle, which was scheduled to be sold within the next six years under the vehicle replacement plan.
The unit cannot be repaired, he said, and while it would be possible to install a polytank in the truck, “nobody is making the stainless steel wraps any more for polytanks. So now you have an unfinished truck, basically, what it will look like.”
He told more than 30 audience members in attendance Monday that the original plan was, within six years, to sell the old engine six and sell tanker seven, the vehicle with issues, and buy a five-man cab pumper tanker, “which was valued in the plan at $900,000.” Now, he said, instead of a five-man cab the company decided it could “get by” with a two-man cab instead, which would save nearly $400,000.
A downside is the loss of water capacity with the replacement tanker.
“And we still lose some water, we lose 500 gallons, but we think that what we know, that is the best option of what’s at hand right now. Unfortunately, it’s not six years out. It’s an emergency purchase and it’s right this second,” Sallada said.
He asked supervisors to consider making an emergency purchase after telling residents that all of the information about these plans is on the fire company’s website.
“The fire company is asking for the township to support half of the new purchase. The fire company is willing to support half of that new truck by sub sales, fundraisers, carnivals, etc., to put towards that truck, to put towards a new tanker,” Sallada said. “If we order it today, which I know that’s not going to happen, but if we order it today, we’re about a year and a half, a year out till we would get it.”
That means the fire company wouldn’t need $250,000 from the township for over a year.
“I know it throws a little bit of a curve into the process. The only good news that I can bring you with this is you don’t have to spend an extra $400,000, which is a huge number,” Sallada said. “So yes, it’s expediting and replacing a truck a little sooner than what we wanted to.”
The company also could apply for grants to cover the cost, he added.
Some township residents asked if the vehicle could be repaired, but there are no clear paths to do so on a vehicle that was originally scheduled to be sold within the next six years, according to multiple fire company officials at the meeting.
Supervisors did not take action but agreed they needed time to explore the request further. They promised to respond to the funding request at the June board meeting.
Mixed news
In another announcement that could be considered mixed news, Sallada said fire company officials took a vote and decided to begin proceedings to sell the Union Water Works fire hall building, which includes a social hall and is the site of township meetings.
Sallada added that he and other fire company officials are tired of their phones blowing up with calls from residents asking when it will be sold now that the two fire companies have merged. He noted the controversial nature of this request, adding that a new structure will need to be built at the current fire hall, which is the former Bellegrove Fire Company, to house all the necessary equipment.
He said the plan is not to allow the cost of that facility to exceed whatever funds are realized by selling the Water Works property, meaning the company does not want to incur debt on the new structure because they are selling the old one.
Other business
In other business, supervisors voted unanimously to:
- Realign their Emergency Services Advisory Committee to remove the police chief representative, since the township doesn’t technically employ its own police officer, and replace that position with a community representative.
- Pay Pennsy Supply $3,641.45 to fix a dip in Clear Spring Road near the railroad bridge that’s over that roadway and is currently being repaired. Clear Spring Road is slated to be reopened later this month.
- Accept a retainer agreement with HRG for sanitary sewage services.
- Read and pay the monthly bills.
- Approve the treasurer’s report as of April 13. The report includes a balance of all accounts of $1,76,344.22. The funds and the amount in each includes: General: $872,565.44; State: $864,220.61; Public Sewer: $20,109.37; and Escrow: $3,448.80.
- Receive the police report for the township, including the pulling of 40 license plates for moving violations and two arrests for driving under the influence.
- Approve the minutes of their April 13 meeting.
North Annville Township Supervisors meet the second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the social hall of the former Union Water Works Fire Company, 2875 Waterworks Way, Annville.
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