By Rebecca Gitlen
May 16, 2012. For the past four years, the Boone Town Council tried to have federal and state funds help pay for a new ladder fire truck, said Andy Ball, of the Boone Town Council. In university towns, in a community with very tall residence halls for students who live on campus, ladder trucks are necessary, he said.
“State legislature was helping university towns across the state in budget rotations to purchase fire trucks,” said Ball. “ASU was farther down in the rotation and before they got to us, state budget cuts caused the state to quit the program.”
Those funds weren’t available, so Boone needed a new option.
Rennie Brantz and Allan Scherlen met with different Appalachian State University departments, as well as with Susan McCracken, ASU director of external affairs, to come to an agreement. Their cooperation led to the university granting $300,000 to the purchase of a $1 million fire truck.
The rest of the money for Boone Fire Department’s new truck will come from Boone reserve funds for vehicle purchases and fire reserve funds, said Ball.
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