LEWISBURG — The Village of Lewisburg Fire Department will be applying for a grant to purchase a new fire truck.

During a council meeting on Thursday, Sept. 20, Municipal Manager Jeff Sewert and Fire Chief BJ Sewert shared, the firefighter grant application period is open again, and while the village has been successful twice, officials hope to be successful again in the application process, because the village is due for a new firetruck.

“(We) had the conversation the other day, this grant has been out there for several years and I’m pretty sure it is extended out beyond this year. The bottom line is, we are to the point where we need to investigate buying something new. One of the vehicles we have is 29 years old, one is 24 years old, and another is 18 years old,” Chief Sewert said.

“One of the things that affects the rating is the age of the vehicles you have. After a 25-year period, they won’t get anymore points and points are what gets grades for the ISO rating. In the conversation, we talked about the grant, and the last two or three times we bid out vehicles, we spent one year before we send it out for bid or bought a truck,” Chief Sewert continued. “With that said, this grant comes up in October and it will be up against next October. I think we are in a position where we will have enough time to prepare what we need for this and move forward.”

He added, this is a very competitive grant. The department has used Mote & Associates to apply for the grant in the past, and has been turned down, despite having an excellently written proposal. Mote & Associates has secured a grant for Gasper Township for a vehicle through this program in the past, according to officials.

Chief Sewert plans to begin preparing over the next several months and hopes to be successful in the application process.