Minneola would bolster its arsenal. Montverde could use the money for a versatile vehicle.
By Robert Sargent
Orlando Sentinel
Copyright 2007 Sentinel Communications Co.
MINNEOLA, Fla. — Minneola is one step closer to buying a firetruck from nearby Montverde -- a deal that could improve emergency services for both communities.
Montverde council members voted last week to sell one of the two engines at the town’s volunteer fire department in order to buy a smaller multipurpose vehicle. That is a big opportunity for Minneola, which could use the engine for its own expanding fire department.
Montverde Mayor Dale Heathman supports the deal.
“I’d like to see it happen as soon as possible,” Heathman said. “The second engine is really not what we need. We’re making payments on it -- why not have a truck we do need.”
Montverde may sell the fire engine for about $95,000. The town currently owes a little less than $90,000 on the vehicle’s financing.
Minneola Mayor David Yeager said he hopes his council will agree to buy the truck. The money likely would have to come from more than $5 million the city has saved in reserves.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” Yeager said. “This is being proactive and doing the right thing.”
Minneola fire Chief Dave Dobrzykowski said another fire engine would be an ideal backup in his small collection of emergency vehicles. When Minneola’s main fire vehicles recently broke down, Montverde helped out by lending the firetruck that it now plans to sell.
Minneola has two engines: one built for the city in 2005 and a used 1989 truck purchased from a fire department in the Fort Myers area.
Dobrzykowski said his city also could use an additional truck for a second fire station it plans to open possibly next year at Sugarloaf Mountain, a proposed development of about 2,220 homes. Sugarloaf recently submitted an application to annex into Minneola, which would expand the city borders north of County Road 455 and west of Montverde.
Dobrzykowski said Montverde’s truck is much cheaper than buying a new fire engine and it is in good condition.
“It looks like new inside the cab,” he explained.
Montverde could sell the truck for about $95,000. A similar truck can sell new for more than $165,000, Dobrzykowski said.
Montverde fire Chief Steve Sette also works as a lieutenant with Minneola’s fire department. However, Dobrzykowski said that did not influence Montverde’s decision to sell one of its two fire engines -- that is something the town had considered before Sette became the chief there.
Montverde acquired the fire engine in 2004. It replaced a 1974-model truck purchased from Orlando in 1994 that broke down during Hurricane Charley.
The town purchased the other truck four years ago -- its first new fire engine in nearly half a century -- to replace a 1956-model truck that now is used for only a few emergency calls. That new vehicle was bought with help from a $250,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Montverde aims to sell the engine it purchased in 2004. Officials want to acquire a more versatile multipurpose vehicle that would make responses much easier than driving a large engine to all emergencies. That vehicle could cost about $150,000.