Towanda, Pa., Fire Dept.'s Ladder Out of Service, Again

May 31--TOWANDA -- The financing of the planned Bradford County Veterans Memorial Park, problems with the heating system at the Towanda police station, and a problem that has taken the Towanda Fire Department's ladder truck out of service were among the topics discussed at the most recent meeting of the Towanda Borough Council.

Towanda Borough Manager Kyle V. Lane announced that the $200,000 state grant that is being used to help pay for the construction of the Bradford County Veterans Memorial Park in Towanda is almost used up.

The work that the grant paid for -- including construction of the park's parking lot, the sidewalk under the Veterans Memorial Bridge, landscaping, and a stairwell linking the parking lot to the main section of the park -- is 99 percent complete, said Joe Doherty, a spokesman for the Bradford County Veterans Memorial Park Association.

With the grant money just about used up, all of the rest of the funds needed to construct the park will have to come from private and corporate donations, and from fundraisers, Doherty said.

Towanda Fire Chief Bill Roof announced that the Towanda Fire Department's ladder truck has developed another problem, so the truck is now out of service.

The truck, which was built in 1987, has a problem with its cooling system, Roof said on Thursday. A diesel mechanic will be diagnosing the exact problem and working on the truck, possibly in the middle of next week, he said.

The fire company had bought the truck in 2009 for $40,000 and so far has put roughly another $70,000 into it, said Roof. A new truck of the same type would now cost well over $1 million, Roof said on Thursday.

The truck had also been taken out of service last fall for several months after it developed problems with its electrical and hydraulic systems.

Funeral home

Jim Bowen, owner of the Maryott-Bowen Funeral Home, has secured the permits he needs to rebuild the two floors above the funeral home that were damaged in a recent fire, Towanda Borough Code Enforcement Officer Jim Haight said at the meeting. The funeral home itself, which sustained only minimal water damage in the fire, has remained in operation since the fire.

The borough council voted to seek bids from members of the public who would be interested in purchasing some unneeded equipment owned by the borough, including a 1982 bucket truck, a 1972 sewer truck, a 2002 police car, a dump truck, and a John Deere lawnmower.

To save money, the borough will be converting a furnace used by the borough's police station so that it uses natural gas, instead of oil, Lane said. Some equipment that controls the building's heating system will also be replaced, because the heating system remains on when it is not needed, police Chief Randy Epler said.

Sometimes the furnace has to be shut off, in order to stop the heating system from running unnecessarily, Epler said.

Lane said he is finalizing the list of streets that will be repaved this year, saying he wants to focus on roadways near the Towanda public school campus that receive a lot of traffic, particularly Western Avenue and possibly part of Lombard Street. Lombard Street and Western Avenue are in "pretty bad shape, especially Western Avenue," Lane said. Other streets that could be repaved this year include a section of Third Street, between Poplar and Lombard streets, which is "falling apart," and the section of Pine Street between Third and Fifth streets, which is in "rough shape," he said.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: [email protected].

Copyright 2014 - The Daily Review, Towanda, Pa.