The Granbury City Council authorized the use of a $300,000 apparatus grant awarded by the Texas Forest Service to the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department and authorized the city manager to execute documents and solicit competitive bids for a replacement fire-rescue apparatus.

Deputy City Manager Michael Ross and Fire Chief Matt Mohon described the award, which the GVFD had applied for repeatedly and recently received. Staff said the new vehicle would allow retirement of two aging units assigned to Station 3 (including a tanker and a reserve engine) and would preserve the department’s ISO rating credits if the apparatus meets minimum equipment criteria.

Fire Chief Mohon and staff identified program requirements discussed in the meeting: the apparatus must be new and, as stated by staff, must have a minimum 1,000-gallon tank, a minimum 500 gallons-per-minute pump and a minimum 3-inch discharge to meet Texas Forest Service and the department’s ISO needs. Staff noted standard lead times remain lengthy for apparatus but that selecting a vehicle already slotted for production can reduce typical 24–48 month waits to roughly 8–12 months. The grant award date was stated as Oct. 14; staff said the grant timeline allows 12 months from the award date with an automatic six-month extension commonly granted in practice though not yet formalized on paper.

Staff also warned the $300,000 award covers only part of the expected equipment cost; in the meeting staff said the city would need to make up the difference and gave a wide preliminary estimate of the remaining local funding requirement "in the $6,500,000 to $600,000 range depending on how those bids come in" (transcript wording was unclear on exact figures). Council approved staff’s request to accept the grant and proceed to competitive bidding and possible financing, voting 6-0.

What’s next: staff will solicit bids based on Texas Forest Service specifications, return cost estimates and proposed financing options to council, and, if the council chooses, proceed with purchase and equipment assignment to GVFD.