Portage Public Safety Director Nick Armold poses for a portrait at headquarters in Portage, Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com

PORTAGE, MI -- The city of Portage is planning to buy a new aerial type fire apparatus with $1.1 million in funding from the state of Michigan’s fiscal year 2023 budget, pending approval from the governor.

The new aerial truck is estimated to cost at least $1.6 million, the city of Portage said.

Lawmakers sent the largest budget in state history, $75.7 billion, to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for her signature this week after a near 19-hour workday in the state legislature.

“We are appreciative of the leadership we have at the state level with legislators, Christine Morse and Sean McCann,” Portage Mayor Patricia M. Randall said in a news release. “This apparatus will assist the Department of Public Safety – Fire Division with keeping both our residents safe, as well as surrounding communities when mutual support is requested.”

Public safety is the greatest category of expense for the municipality, Acting City Manager Adam Herringa said.

“Not only is it a result of the need for 24-hour operations, but also the need for equipment that can protect multi-story structures and large homes,” Herringa said.

The Portage fire truck was a budget request made by the city of Portage to the local legislative delegation, according to state Sen. McCann’s office.

The item can be found on page 376 of HB 5783, as an enhancement grant in the Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity budget:

“From the funds appropriated in part 1 for Michigan enhancement grants, $1,100,000 shall be awarded to a city with a population of between 48,500 and 49,000 located in a county with a population of between 260,000 and 265,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census for the replacement of an aerial fire apparatus,” the bill states.

The city’s original request was summarized as seeking state funds to match local dollars for a $1.6 million fire apparatus.

The new truck will replace a 1998 aerial apparatus currently housed at Fire Station No. 1. The new aerial truck will be designed with the current and future city plans in mind, and it will contain many updated safety features.

Once ordered, the manufacturing and inspection of the new truck are expected to take 18-24 months. The existing 1998 apparatus will be retired and sold through an auction service, the city said.

The new fire apparatus will improve public safety, McCann said in a news release. McCann said the Senate agreed on a bipartisan budget that “reflects many of the budget priorities of residents and stakeholders in Kalamazoo County.”

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