At long last, Lehighton Fire Department will be getting a sorely needed piece of apparatus.

On an 8-0 vote, borough council agreed on Monday to proceed with the letter of intent to purchase a 109-foot Rear Mount Ladder Truck for the fire department.

After the meeting, borough Manager Nicole Beckett said the total cost for the letter of intent is $1,115,393.

Beckett said the truck will replace the fire department’s 31-year-old ladder truck, and that specifications are being finalized on the truck, which will be purchased from KME.

She said the purchase of the truck has been discussed for many years, and noted that both the borough and the fire department have applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency AFG Grant for numerous years with hopes of offsetting the costs, only to not receive grant funding year after year.

Beckett said council acted on the proposal in order to avoid a 2.5% increase in cost, and that the borough will utilize the funds from the fire equipment tax allocation for the down payment and annual payments on the truck.

She noted that in 2002, council had allocated a half-mill to fund future fire equipment purchases which has continued into this year. In 2019, an additional half-mill was added for fire apparatus/equipment purchase.

“As of now, the borough is proceeding with the letter of intent to KME and will finalize all financing once the specifications are complete,” Beckett said. “We have received three proposals on financing the balance after our down payment.”

In October, borough fire Chief Patrick Mriss told council that for the third straight year, it appeared as if the fire department was again been passed over for a grant it applied for to get a new firetruck.

Mriss said at that time that even if the department would again apply for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program through FEMA, the earliest it would get the truck would likely be several years out.

He said at that time that left the department with a 30-plus-year-old ladder truck, and that it was only a matter of time before something major would go wrong with it.

Council then agreed on a 6-0 vote to advertise the department’s 1994 KME Pump firetruck on Municibid.