Perrysburg OKs buying ladder truck

3/8/2006

The Perrysburg Fire Department expects to have a new 100-foot ladder truck by the end of the year.

City Council last night unanimously approved buying the custom-built truck at a cost not to exceed $843,371 from Pierce Manufacturing Corp. of Appleton, Wis. Fire Chief Ronn Thompson said it should take about 260 to 270 days to build.

The city's current ladder truck has a 50-foot reach, which is too short for many new houses and commercial or civic buildings.

Council also approved an agreement with Perrysburg Township for automatic mutual aid for fires. The township trustees approved the agreement in January.

In other business, council voted 6-1 to update the city's zoning code. Councilman Kevin Rantanen voted against the updates, the first since the 1960s.

He said that even though he thought 95 percent of the code was excellent, he did not agree with a few key points. Those included the allowed lot sizes in planned unit developments - a category new to the code - and putting site plan reviews for commercial developments into the hands of the planning commission instead of the council.