Block grant provides new fire truck for Bradford
By Crystal Burns
There’s a shiny, new fire truck responding to calls in Bradford.
The city’s 2020 Freightliner pumper/tanker has been in service for about a month, Chief Joe Alexander said. The city received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to purchase the new truck, which allowed the Fire Department to retire a 1985 truck.
The grant provided about $298,000, and the city’s match was about $20,000.
Bradford Mayor Ray Arnold thanked Governor Bill Lee for providing the grants and the city’s grant writer Shannon Cotter for helping Bradford update its equipment in many areas.
“We’ve improved a bunch in the last five years,” Arnold said. “Bradford’s looking better.”
The Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development (TNECD) administers the Small Cities CDBG program. Projects must align with one of the three national objectives: principally benefit low and moderate income person; eliminated slums and blight; address imminent health and safety problems.
The program operates continuously on a once-a-year application cycle. The TNECD website states that Tennessee typically receives about $25 million a year; 80-85% of the funds are used for water and sewer projects, approximately 10% for community livability, and about 5% for housing rehabilitation.
The new truck pumps 1,250 gallons per minute. Bradford purchased it through Emergency Vehicle Specialists. Sales representative Bob Dudley presented Alexander and Arnold with a framed photo of the truck at the Fire Department last week.
