JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Jamestown Fire Chief Jim Reuther says the community has been without their ladder truck for the past several months.

During the Jamestown Police & Fire Committee meeting Thursday, Chief Reuther reported that they had sent in the truck for needed repairs and received news that they would be costly.

Reuther says the company is on standby for their instructions on how to move forward.

The truck was acquired for the Jamestown Fire Department through the State of North Dakota in 1984. The ladder truck was needed for the North Dakota State Hospitals and their buildings.

Mayor Dwaine Heinrich pointed out that because the city doesn’t own the truck, they would need to look into ways to address the community’s need for a ladder truck.

Reuther says he’s looked into the cost it would take to replace the trucks.

Reuther says the need for the ladder truck remains with the new UJ Place, downtown buildings, and the North Dakota State Hospital.

In other committee news, Jamestown Police Chief Scott Edinger reports that because of their staff shortage, they are doing what they can to address security needs for community events.

Chief Edinger says it’s an event by event basis for how they are able to provide the security. He says based on volunteer availability, they’ll have on-call staff stop by events when they can.