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Prairie Township gets a new ambulance
(by Megan Edwards, Staff Writer - April 09, 2009)
By the beginning of fall, Station 241 of the Prairie Township Fire Department will respond to medic calls in a new ambulance.
At their meeting April 8, the Prairie Township trustees approved the purchase of a 2009 Navistar 4300 LP ambulance for a total of $196,558, to be purchased from Horton Emergency Vehicles.
According to Fire Chief Steve Feustel, the new vehicle will replace a 1996 Frontliner ambulance used as a reserve vehicle for Station 241. One of the department's newer vehicles, a 2003 Frontliner, will move into the reserve position for the station.
The cost of the new ambulance is broken down into two purchase orders. The first purchase order covers the bulk of the cost, at $194,754, which is from state bid pricing. According to Feustel, the state of Ohio allows fire departments to request a standard list of options on an emergency vehicle. After those are exhausted, all other options are at the discretion of the purchasing party.
The second purchase order includes several options the fire department has chosen, costing $1,804. Those options include brackets to hold oxygen containers for firefighters, brackets for defibrillators, a cabinet built to separate the cockpit of the vehicle and the patient, as well as webbing to hold medical kits.
The township will attempt to advertise bids for the vehicle in hopes of gaining interest from other fire departments around the state.
According to the chief, it takes about 180 days after placing the order to receive the vehicle.
Trustees also approved the purchase of a mobile command unit to be installed in the fire chief's command vehicle. Purchase of the unit, including installation, is $4,500, to be purchased from TruckVault.
Other Prairie Township news
•The trustees passed a resolution banning parking on Lakefield Drive, immediately surrounding the Ohio American Water facility. Vehicles cannot park directly across the facility's entrance, or immediately on either side of the drive. This, according to trustees, poses a safety hazard.
•The trustees also heard from several residents regarding zoning and the South Grener Avenue corridor. Residents expressed concern with the possible removal of the pedestrian bridge located at South Grener and Stiles avenues. Many noted that Stiles Elementary School students use the bridge to get to school.
Though the cost of removing the bridge is included in the second phase of the project, the trustees assured residents the removal of the bridge is not official. Since last month's meeting, research has taken place on clearance of the bridge. The research will assist in the decision to remove the bridge, according to trustees, and a decision won't take place immediately. Removing the bridge is a part of the second phase of a three-phase project on Grener.
Residents James and Janice Boggs asked the trustees to allow an approach on one lot they own off South Grener Avenue. They asserted they had at first received approval to create an approach, but then were denied the request.
According to township officials, the Boggs' were indeed approved for the approach, but denied after consideration for the amount of traffic expected to pass on Grener in the future. Trustee Nicole Schlosser also pointed out that the lot is an "unimproved lot."
"I can't see putting an approach on an unimproved lot," Schlosser said. "That's just inviting people to come park on an empty lot."
Kennedy agreed with Schlosser, adding that approving the approach now might cost more for the owners down the road.
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