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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The city is moving ahead with the purchase of a new aerial ladder truck for the fire department.</p><p>City council next week will be asked to approve the purchase of a<a href="https://www.piercemfg.com/trucks/aerials/ascendant/107-tiller" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> 2020 Pierce Enforcer 107-foo</a><a href="https://www.piercemfg.com/trucks/aerials/ascendant/107-tiller" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">t Ascendant tractor drawn aerial ladder</a> through Glick Fire Equipment Co. Inc. at a cost of $1,186,345, according to a resolution on the agenda for Tuesday night&#8217;s work session.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre Fire Department Chief Jay Delaney said he will make a presentation to council at the nonvoting work session. The vote will be at council&#8217;s public meeting on Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re at it for four years,&#8221; Delaney said Thursday of the efforts to purchase a new ladder truck.</p><p>The department has been using a ladder truck it purchased in 2003 with federal funds. Parts are hard to get and the technology is outdated, Delaney had previously said.</p><p>The city was awarded a Local Share Account grant of $420,000 in March from the state. The money is from a portion of the gambling revenues at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Plains Township. The remainder will come from Community Development Block Grant funding.</p><p>Office of Economic and Community Development Director Joyce Morrash Zaykowski said the down payment will be made this year. &#8220;The balance will be included in next year&#8217;s budget,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Money that had been sitting in a revolving loan fund for years and the remainder of a loan to build the Park &amp; Lock East parkade that was sold to the Wilkes-Barre Parking Authority for $1.55 million this year will be used to purchase the new aerial ladder truck.</p><p>It will take a year for the truck to be made to the department&#8217;s specifications and delivered, Zaykowski said.</p><p>&#8220;You just don&#8217;t order a truck,&#8221; Zaykowski said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Wilkes-Barre Fire Department will be equipped with a new Pierce aerial ladder truck similar to what the City of Baltimore Fire Service bought last year. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Pierce-Baltimore-City-Fire-Department-MD-31826.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Wilkes-Barre Fire Department will be equipped with a new Pierce aerial ladder truck similar to what the City of Baltimore Fire Service bought last year. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pierce Manufacturing Inc. </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New aerial ladder truck for Wilkes-Barre Fire Department in the works