Hayden J Emrah
WZBD
The Town of Monroe has been working in conjunction with the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department to help acquire a new vehicle for their station, bringing the total number of available vehicles to seven. The truck, a 2001 Pierce Quantum heavy rescue unit, was sold to the town of Monroe for only $1–yes only one–by Lake Township in southwest Allen County.
Discussions for purchasing the vehicle began at Monroe’s September council meeting, where Fire Chief Kris Burkhart gave a presentation on the purchase opportunity and vehicle specifications. In that meeting, the council agreed in a 2-0 vote to purchase the vehicle title for its use by the fire department.
The Monroe Volunteer Fire Department will assume responsibility for insurance, maintenance, repairs and upkeep, with an understanding that the council may provide financial support for some of the maintenance and repairs. Councilmember Josh Geerken abstained from the vote as he is a member of the volunteer service.
The 8-seat capacity fire engine unit comes fully equipped with the typical various amenities needed to operate fire/rescue operations as part of the purchase. Other specifics of the vehicle include snow tire-chains, storage compartments on top of the vehicle, walk-in storage in the back, and a 15-foot extendable light tower. At the time of sale the fire engine had 30,800–27600 on the road 3200 idling–miles on the odometer, with Brurkhart remarking that for a vehicle made in 2001 the previous owners have kept the vehicle in excellent condition.
One more notable amenity to the vehicle is a four-bottle cascade unit, which refers to the air units that firefighters use to breathe while in hazardous environments, something the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department has been looking for as prior to the purchase as they were one of the only fire/rescue services in the county without them.
While the vehicle itself was sold to the town for $1, the caveat is that total repairs to bring the vehicle to its full potential will cost the department approximately $30,000-$40,000 in repairs and upkeep. This includes new brakes, tires, wheel alignment and updated lettering/stencils on the vehicle.
Repairs also include fixing the controls for the light tower, as it will extend but currently cannot rotate, and A/C for the cab, however Brukhart indicated that upon inspecting the vehicle prior to purchase that it may be a simple issue with a belt rather than something more complex with the A/C system itself. A/C for the rear storage compartment is operational, which is important because it can be utilized as a rehabilitation space for rescue operations.
As of Monroe’s October town council meeting, it was agreed in a 2-0 vote to provide the fire department with $3,203.46 in funds for the purchase of six new tires for the vehicle, in the ongoing process with the town and fire department to bring the vehicle up-to-date.
Funding discrepancy
Other recent news in respect to the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department is an un-utilized fund on the town’s accounting books called the cumulative fire special fund.
Currently, the town uses three different accounts that are referred to as levied funds, as the money comes from accumulated property taxes. These funds include a general fund, motor vehicle highway, and park, and are used to have money for those respective services, with the general fund being allocated as annually budgeted.
This cumulative fire special fund, which has been inactive since 2019 meaning no more funds have been put into it since that year, amounts to slightly under $32,000 and was originally used to pay for the service agreement with the fire department. That service contract is now budgeted out of the general fund, making this fire special fund obsolete as any monetary needs for the department can simply be budgeted or pulled from the town’s rainy day fund.
In a 2-0 vote with Councilmember Geerken abstaining, it was agreed to leave the fund in place to ensure that the money could only be spent on fire department-related needs. This includes building repairs for the town hall–which are split costs between the town and the Monroe fire department, paying out part of the fire contract, or helping to upgrade the newly acquired firetruck.
Ownership discrepancy
Since separating from the town of Monroe and becoming a separate entity in 2014, the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department has presumably retained ownership of their vehicles for department use. That was assumed to be the case until July, when Fire Chief Kris Burkhart approached the council with the news that his department didn’t actually own one of their trucks.
The fire department owns five of their now seven vehicles (the newly-acquired fire engine had the stipulation that Lake Township would only sell the vehicle to another township), with the other non-owned vehicles being one of two water trucks used by the department.
The ownership discrepancy came to light when insurance was due for the vehicle, and was billed to the town and not the fire department. To resolve the issue, Fire Chief Kris Burkhart went through various records and documents on the matter, only to find that in-fact, his department did not own the title to their own vehicle and that the Town of Monroe did. Furthermore, it appears that the title itself has been lost in the records, along with other pertinent documentation regarding the vehicle’s ownership.
As for how this happened, Burkhart explained the history of the fire department and its separation from the town in the following statement, “So, long story short, years ago there were three departments within one here: there was Monroe town fire department, the Monroe rural fire department, and rescue. About 2007, 2008–somewhere around that time frame–they abolished the rural fire department and it came with the town [fire department]. And then, when we built the building [the town hall], somewhere in that time frame [2013-2014] we became Monroe Volunteer Fire Department Incorporated, and kind of separated from the town.”
After much deliberation as to how about going to resolve the matter of ownership and lost documentation, the council decided in a 2-0 vote that the town would file with the Adams County Superior Court to replace the lost title and other documentation, and afterwards transfer the vehicle over to the department.
Overall, 2024 has proved an accomplished year for the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department in resolving budgeting and ownership issues, as well as the acquisition of the new fire truck. The department is contracted to serve nine townships in Adams County, and its ongoing support by the Town of Monroe, as well as those who work for and volunteer their time to serve on the department, are its leading factors in their continued success.
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