By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Edgewood city council is trying to figure out what they can do to save an old firetruck, which is one of the original vehicles from the fire department that became the Edgewood Fire Department. The firetruck is currently owned by a group of firefighters, the Firefighter Association, and they have asked the city for help.
For a few months, council has been debating what they can do with the truck, which is a 1956 model firetruck.
Councilmember Joe Messmer, who was the Edgewood Fire Chief 26 years until 2006, also owns Summit Fire Apparatus in Edgewood, a business his father started in 1957, and he said the issue of what to do with the historical fire truck is coming to a critical point.
“The firetruck is currently sitting in back of the firehouse covered with a tarp,” he said. “It needs to be inside somewhere, ideally on the Edgewood property, so that the firefighters who own it can work on it. It is only going to get colder from here on, and we could see snow next month.”
At the council meeting two weeks ago, a vote was held on whether to construct a metal building to get the truck out of the elements at an estimated cost of about $17,000 for a metal building. The vote was 5 for the building and 2 against.
Before the vote, Messmer addressed the question posed at the previous meeting as to how much the firetruck has cost the group of firefighters who own the truck. Messmer went back 10 years.
“It has cost $3,365 in the last ten years,” he reported. “The cost for the insurance is less than $200 a year. So it is not a very expensive project. Because it doesn’t get run a lot, it doesn’t require a lot of maintenance.”
Councilmember Jeff Schreiver said that he is in favor of preserving the truck.
Mayor John Link questioned whether the city should buy the truck or just preserve it. He went on record saying that his understanding of the issue is that the Fire Association has money to store the truck or preserve it.
“I don’t want enemies, and I am probably going to make enemies, but I really don’t want the truck,” he stated. “I’ll house the truck, but I don’t want any ownership of the truck.”
Link said the staff has been washing and polishing the truck and they don’t want to do it anymore.
Messmer countered that saying to his knowledge none of the paid firefighters have been taking care of the firetruck, it has been the volunteers who take care of it.
“As far as I know, it was just provided to stay in the building and that’s the extent of it,” said Messmer. “We use the electric just to keep the batteries up. The city has expended no funds except the actual storage of it in the building.”
It had been mentioned that the firefighter group that owns the truck now is a 501 (C) (3), meaning that it is a charitable organization. At one time they held regular fish fries to supplement their funds so they can give gifts at the holidays. Now they cannot hold the fish fries, so the approximate $25,000 they have left has to be spent carefully.
“A 501 (C)(3) is an exemption from income tax,” said city Attorney Frank Wichmann. “There are all kinds of organizations that are 501, the (Brookwood) swimming club is one, Lions’ club, rotary clubs, garden clubs, there’s just no end to them, and my concern is if you provide support for one 501 you are setting a precedent for other 501(C)(3) to do the same thing. If we are going to provide any benefit to this particular 501(C)(3) we’d have to do it in some form of a contract so the city gets something out of it.”
Mayor Link agreed with his assessment, saying he is being pressured almost every other month by Brookwood Swim Club, asking him when is the city going to take the club over, and Link said he doesn’t want to set that kind of precedent.
“Let me just say this, the truck has been restored to the condition where it could be put into service,” said Messmer. “Everything was fixed on it. Because of its age, it can be cantankerous, I guess is the word. But it could be pressed into service. So it is not just an ornament, which is what people might describe it as.”
The fire department that has served Edgewood over the years had a start at the foot of Dudley Road in a little community called Sanford Town. Messmer explained that the department began around 1955, and continued till 1961. The first truck for this department is the truck the city is now considering whether to preserve or not.
“Our job was protecting the top of the hill,” Messmer said. “Now it is Edgewood.”
The department actually moved a little up the hill in the early 1960’s, with a station on Orphanage Road about where the Dickman Bar and Grill is now. The name of the department was changed to Southern Hills.
In the 1970’s the station moved to the top of the hill, where the city building complex is now. Then in 1996 the department merged with the city, and the fire department was officially the Edgewood Fire Department.
As the department evolved, they acquired new fire trucks, pumpers and ambulances, and the old truck was not needed, so it was sold to a small department in Sandy, Kentucky, in the eastern part of the state.
Many years later, firefighters saw that the department in Sandy was selling a firetruck. When they saw the picture, they knew it was their old truck, and they knew this truck was a part of their heritage, their history. They bought the truck for about $2,000 and brought it back to this area. Messmer’s company donated materials to fix up the truck, and the firefighters somehow were able to get the truck back into working order.
The next step to keep the truck as part of the city’s history is up to the city. Council did vote to build a metal building to keep the truck out of the elements, but where and when is still up in the air. Messmer said CAO Brian Dehner told him they are looking at a site by the public works building, which is closer to St Elizabeth Hospital than to the fire department. But the city still has to bid the project out, and Messmer thinks there is going to have to be interim shelter for the truck.
“I would really like to see some kind of small museum eventually that not only houses the truck, but a lot of other memorabilia of the city,” said Messmer. “Once historical items are lost you will never get them back. I don’t think Edgewood has a historical society.”