MOUNT CARMEL - Borough Council approved two steps Thursday night in getting the Anthracite Steam Fire Company's ladder truck back to its home after two years of house at the Mount Carmel Rescue Squad.
A highway occupancy permit was unanimously approved by council and borough manager Edward Cuff III was directed to sign all the documents.
According to the plans, the entrance to the Anthracite truck room would be level with the street and have a 1 percent slope, which requires a permit by PennDOT.
Council members also approved the execution of a land use questionnaire, which is a form the engineer and Cuff must fill out in reference to the property.
No one realized Anthracite's 2011 KME Aerialcat - which, at 11-feet, 8-inches tall and including a 100-foot ladder, was built to 2010 National Fire Protection Agency standards - wouldn't fit in the existing building on Market Street adjacent to town park until it was too late.
Because of that, the truck has been sitting in the rescue squad truck room for two years, which has been inconvenient for all parties involved and has damaged rescue squad property. Anthracite members have been working on a solution since the arrangement was made.
A $188,000 plan, designed by Mid-Penn Engineering, Lewisburg, is to take out the steel beams in the basement below the Anthracite truck room, fill in the basement and lower the truck room floor by 2 feet. That would leave approximately 6 inches between the ceiling and the top of the truck.
Construction is expected to begin by late April or early May.
In other borough fire company news, council members directed Cuff to organize the paperwork for West End Fire Company to either sell or renew its liquor license.
Councilman Robert Shirmer, who is also a member of the West End, said since a decision has to be made by March 31 in accordance with the state Liquor Control Board, a fire company meeting will be held in March to determine its status.
It will likely be put into safe keeping, which means the organization hands the license over to the LCB until it is ready to use it again.
The West End building was put up for sale in October 2011, and the firefighters have been operating out of the American Hose Fire Company.
In other business, council approved:
- To renew an agreement with Catawese Coach Lines Inc. to provide bus drivers for the Lower Anthracite Transportation System (LATS).
- The use of town park on April 27 for Bargains in the Park from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, and on May 18 for the inaugural Mount Carmel Police Department Community Day from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
