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New vehicles hit the road in Franklin Township
Residents of Franklin Township will see new fire and police vehicles on the streets in time for the new year. The week before Thanksgiving, the Franklin Township Fire Department picked up Engine 192 from Findlay, Ohio after repairs had been made to it throughout the month of November. While the original estimate for repairs were pegged around $145,000, Fire Chief Richard Howard said they managed to knock that down to around $ 136,000. “Once they got her up there and started pulling her apart they found some other things that needed to be repaired – we had about $12,000 added to it in changes,” Howard said. “Bottom line is, all said and done, we saved $13,698.” The department was able to shave down the cost by pre-paying for the repairs, accumulating interest on their money, and by receiving $9,438 in insurance money for damage done to the engine after an accident earlier this year. “So it’s out on the streets running around tonight,” Howard said. In addition, the fire department will soon have a new medic vehicle joining their fleet if all goes well during the final inspection of the vehicle. Howard added they are hoping nothing mechanically wrong is found on the vehicle, and they do not currently have an estimate of what any needed maintenance may be. “Hopefully, before the end of the year we’ll have a new medic,” Howard said. Furthermore, the Franklin Township Police Department also received two new fully-equipped 2011 Ford police cruisers, which they have been speaking about over the last couple of months. This will now increase the township’s patrol units to six. “We did get two new police cars in. They’re in the building in the back, being warmed up, because tomorrow they’re going to have stripes and letters put on them,” Police Chief Jim Timko said at the Dec. 9 township meeting. “…if you see newer police cars, that’s your tax dollars at work.” Timko added the department is currently applying for a federal grant in to purchase an additional police cruiser next year – there will be more information on this in February. If the township is able to procure the third police car, the Franklin Township police fleet will have nearly doubled in size over the last year, enabling the police department to increase patrol.
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