Ephrata to buy rescue rig
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 1 month AGO
New Ephrata Police officer Camden Eckhart (center) gets his first badge from his wife while Chief Michael Warren looks on. Eckhart was sworn in during the Ephrata City Council meeting Wednesday.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 21, 2016 6:00 AM
EPHRATA — Ephrata City Council members moved one step closer to buying a new rescue rig during the regular council meeting Wednesday.
Council members approved an interlocal agreement with Snohomish County Fire District No. 3, which will be the lead agency for the rescue rig's purchase. Ephrata city administrator Wes Crago called it “piggy-backing,” partnering with the fire district to get a better price. The estimated price for Ephrata is $135,000 before sales and other taxes, Crago said
Mayor Bruce Reim asked whether or not the new rig would be used by the fire department. The vehicle is built like an ambulance and looks like an ambulance, but it’s a “rescue rig” as opposed to an ambulance, said Ephrata Fire Chief Jeremy Burns. (Ephrata doesn’t have its own ambulance service; the city contracts with a private provider.) The rescue rig is designed like an ambulance, but will have compartments for more tools, Crago said.
The council will consider approving a contract for the vehicle at its April 20 meeting. The rescue rig is built from scratch, Crago said, with construction beginning after the contract is signed. Six months is the estimated time to delivery once construction begins.
Ephrata voters approved a sales tax increase in 2014 to pay for a new fire truck and other fire district equipment, Crago said in an earlier interview.
In other business, new Ephrata Police officer Camden Eckhart was sworn in by police Chief Michael Warren. Warren said the department doesn’t have much turnover; Eckhart is the second officer to join the department in five years. Eckhart is an Ephrata native, he added.
The council approved the city’s continuing membership on the Grant County Economic Development Council. City officials and businesses have become more active in the EDC over the last few years, Crago said, and Ephrata recreation director Ray Towry is the current EDC president.
Council members approved the use of Lions Park for the annual Easter Egg hunt sponsored by the Ephrata Rotary, scheduled for 1 p.m. March 26. The council also approved an application for the annual Ephrata Lions Fishing Derby, scheduled for April 16.
The council meeting scheduled for April 6 has been canceled, Crago said, due to spring vacation. The next meeting will be April 20.
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