Members of the Cartersville City Council voted unanimously to approve a request from the local fire department to purchase a 2022 aerial tower truck at a public meeting last week. The 100-foot, heavy-duty platform won’t come cheap, however — per Cartersville Fire Department Chief Scott Carter, the total cost of the purchase comes out to $1,292,522.
“This is a budgeted item that we’ve discussed for several years,” he told the council. “This is actually one of the approved projects under the 2020 SPLOST, the dollar amount was placed in at that time — I believe that was back in 2016, 2017.”
The new vehicle would replace a roughly 17-year-old piece of equipment.
“Our 2004 model started to become a little bit undependable, if you will,” Carter told the council. “We’ve had several types of repairs — currently, as we speak, it’s under repair.”
Over the last two fiscal years he said the department has spent $66,340.83 “beyond preventive maintenance” on the vehicle.