Bids are out now for a new ladder truck for the City of Bay Minette’s fire department, as the city was recently awarded $645,239 in grant money from FEMA.

According to Fire Chief Mike Minchew, who helped lead the effort to secure the grant, Bay Minette was a near finalist for the 2013 series of grants but missed out on being awarded during that cycle.

“Wet sat down for the 2014 grant, revamped it and looked at it,” Minchew said. “It took about three weeks to put it together and we submitted it November 14. We were notified July 24 that we had received the grant and now we’ve got a little less than a year to secure the right bid and have them put the truck together.”

Minchew said he and city staff have worked diligently to get bid spec together to meet the year deadline to allow the winning bidder at least 280 bill days to construct the truck, in advance of an expected delivery date of July 7, 2016.

City officials were thrilled to hear about the grant, as the city’s share would only be around $32,000 in matching funds.

Mayor Bob Wills thanked Minchew and his staff for their hard work in securing the funds.

“This is terrific news not just for our city, but the whole region as we’ll be in a better position to provide help and assistance with this new truck,” Wills said.

The city’s current ladder truck was built in 1978 and refurbished in 1995, but Minchew said its age was showing.

“It’s served its time, and now its time to move on,” Minchew said.

Minchew said this was the biggest grant the Bay Minette Fire Department had ever received, and his goal was to use that funding to benefit the entire region.

“We wanted to build a truck that would make us more capable of doing our job in a safe way,” Minchew said. “If another community sends out a request, we’ll be able to send in this new truck to help. It’s not just about Bay Minette – this truck can and will be used all over the north end of the county or anywhere else a ladder truck might be needed.”

Bids are currently out for the project and Minchew expects the final bid to be approved at the first city council meeting in September.