ladder-truck

By Dave Thompson

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (Prairie Public) – Getting the state to kick in some money for a new ladder truck for the Jamestown Fire Department could be a challenge in the 2021 Legislature.

The ladder truck was purchased by the state in the 1980, to provide fire protection for the State Hospital. Last summer, the truck failed.

The city came up with a plan to replace it. One third of the money would come from the fire department’s equipment replacement funds, one third from donations and the final third from the state. But in the meantime, the city is paying for the new $1 million ladder truck from the Fire department’s replacement fund, and the city would ask the Legislature for a $333,000 appropriation to help replenish the fund.

But state agencies don’t seem to be interested.

State Human Services director Chris Jones told the Emergency Commission his department offered the fire truck to the Department of Corrections, which runs the James River Correctional Center, on the grounds of the state Hospital. Jones says the answer was, “no thanks.”

Jones says the city of Jamestown can take its request to the Legislature.

House Majority Leader Chet Pollert of Carrington.

The state has accepted a $13,000 insurance settlement check on the fire truck, due to damage. The state’s deductible on that coverage was $25,000.