The Carbon County Commission has approved an application with the Utah Permanent Community Impact Fund Board (CIB) for a $1 million grant to purchase two firetrucks – one for the Wellington Fire Department, and the other for the Helper Fire Department.
The commission convened as the Carbon County Municipal Building Authority during the regular meeting of October 4, and held a public hearing as part of the application process required by the CIB. No comments were received.
Commission Chairman Jae Potter explained, “We are asking for, in the application, a hundred thousand in local cash to be put in, and a million dollar grant that would cover the two fire trucks that are a little over $500,000 apiece, and their associated equipment.”
Commissioner Jake Mellor noted, “It’s not every county that is supportive and acts as a sponsoring entity for a lot of the cities. I’d just like the citizens of Carbon County to realize that we do step up to the plate and try to make as big of a difference as we can by providing the organization and legal counsel and the application for this type of process.”
Wellington Fire Chief Matt Perea reaffirmed the need for new equipment and expressed his gratitude to the commissioners. He remarked, “Just to drive home the point to the community at large, we have had four of our six apparatus in the shop this year. I’ve already eaten through more than half of my repair budget and we’re still in the first quarter of the fiscal year. I know Helper is having the same trouble with their rescue truck. We really appreciate it. There’s no other way we could get this without you guys.”
The cities have been providing fire-fighting services to the unincorporated areas of the county for years without a contract, but a new seven-year fire protection agreement with the four municipalities was signed by county commissioners last February.
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