GEORGETOWN — Applying for grants to upgrade some of the county’s aging firstresponder vehicles including an armored truck got a thumbs up this past week from Commissioners Court.
Sheriff Matt Lindemann requested permission to apply for funding for a new armored vehicle.
Meanwhile, Bill Zito, senior director of emergency services, wants to update the county’s emergencyservices vehicle replacement schedule and also addressed wear-and-tear on vehicles.
With an OK from commissioners during the meeting for both Lindemann and Zito, the sheriff explained he will apply for the Office of the Governor’s Fiscal Year 2026 Urban Area Security Initiative Federal Grant.
If granted, approval will cover the cost of a new armored truck.
The county currently has only one armored vehicle and it is a 2007 model.
“The maintenance, I assume, is why you’re wanting to replace it,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long said.
“It’s aging, and those things are driven hard everywhere they go because there’s always an emergency to get to and it’s wearing out,” Lindemann said, adding that the vehicle is used to protect “our people and the citizens of the county.”
Lindemann also noted that parts to repair the armored truck are hard to find.
“At some point, we will no longer be able to get them,” he added.
Zito had a similar concern with the dually trucks used to pull trailers for the office of Emergency Management and the Fire Marshal’s Office. The county’s replacement schedule for its vehicles currently requires automobiles to reach both 100,000 miles and 10 years of age.
“What we’re asking for instead of miles and years, we want it to be miles or years,” Zito said.
He also provided data to the commissioners to support his request.
The county’s hazardous- materials vehicles are dually trucks that pull very large trailers for hazmat materials and a mobile research and laboratory office.
“They’re very big trailers…designed to get hazmat equipment to an incident,” Zito said.
The challenge with the trucks, Zito explained, is that they are specifically used for a hazmat mission, not regularly driven like a police car or fire truck.
“They’re going to get up in age way before the miles… We’ve got some vehicles that are 12-13 years old and are now becoming a dependability issue and, unfortunately, these are response vehicles,” Zito said. “They have to be ready to go 24/7.”
He noted that while hazmat incidents do not happen all the time, the county’s population and industrial businesses continue to grow, increasing the potential for future risks.
The court next meets at 9:30 a.m. March 24 at 710 S. Main St. Sessions can also be viewed online at wilcotx.gov/331/ Commissioners- Court.
