Mahoning Township has been awarded a FEMA grant to purchase a new water tanker truck. In order to qualify for the $237,000 grant, the township was required to solicit three different manufacturers for bids to build the emergency equipment. By Thursday night's special meeting only one manufacturer, local KME, had bid on the job.

Supervisor Bruce Steigerwalt raised questions as to why only one bidder was on the list."It's basically a monopoly in the area. They can raise their price to pretty much anything they want. It just concerns me," he said.Fire Chief Mark Ebbert explained to the board that KME just has home field advantage with their location."We made an effort not to have it be a monopoly. The specs are written generically, it's not written for a specific manufacturer," he said.Township Chairman John Wieczorek asked, "When KME put their bid together, did they have any idea if anyone else was bidding?""Yes, we let it be known we offered other companies," Ebbert said."Just want to be sure we are getting the best price," Steigerwalt said.The total cost of the equipment before the FEMA grant is $377,513. After the government aid, an estimated $89,893 is left. The township plans to apply for an LSA grant.Local share account funds may be used for economic development, community development and public interest projects in Monroe, Carbon, Lackawanna, Northampton, Pike and Wayne. If the township is awarded the LSA grant, the fire company has agreed to kick in $12,000 of its own funds while the remainder will come from a separate township fire company fund.