The Mahoning Township Fire Department has been awarded a $237,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to buy a new tanker truck that can carry 1,000 gallons of water.

Mark Ebbert from the fire department spoke at Wednesday night's board of supervisors meeting to ask for support from the board.The problem is timing. The fire department has until June 30, 2016, to accept delivery of the vehicle in order to qualify for the grant. This means that advertising for job bidders needs to happen as swiftly as possible.In order for advertising to be placed, specifications for the vehicle need to be drawn up and posted for the bidders."Is this a generic tanker?" Vice Chairman Franklin Ruch asked Ebbert."No, the body would be customized," Ebbert said.The longest part of the process will be the actual building of the vehicle. The chassis alone can take up to 100 days to complete. In all it will take nine to 10 months for the vehicle to be completed.The grant, which the department had applied for several years in a row, will not cover the complete cost of the vehicle. A higher end vehicle could run up to $400,000."I suspect you're looking for help from the township for the difference?" Chairman John Wieczorek asked."Yes, it's a 5 percent matching grant. We had to commit to that part. We applied for $250,000 but they gave us the $237,000. It's better to jump in now because this grant is like winning the lottery," Ebbert said.The township backing would affect next year's budget even though the vehicle would belong to the fire department."Maybe we could get help from the gaming fund for the balance," Wieczorek suggested to the rest of the board. "We are going to do it."A motion was passed by the board to help support the fire department's acquisition of the vehicle."The sooner you get the specs, the better," Ruch said.