The Karnes City Volunteer Fire Department’s needs are growing as they continue to serve the city and county, according to discussion at Karnes City’s regular April 24 council meeting.

A truck needs replacing, a new fire station will be needed in five years or so, and there’s talk of shifting a portion of the department toward paying full- or part-time firefighters.

Council members voted during the meeting to pay a $15,000 cost share in a grant that would replace the department’s 1980 model fire truck with a brand new $300,000 unit.

While going over the specifics on the truck, Mayor Don Tymrak asked whether the unit would fit comfortably inside the local fire station. Karnes City Fire Chief Charlie Malik said he believes he can make it work with their current setup.

Tymrak told council members Leroy Skloss, Jimmy Loya, Mary Kruciak, Raymond Robinson, and Lillian Lyssy he expects a new fire station will have to be built in the next five to 10 years.

"We’ve got a lot on our plate with water and sewer and streets, but that’s going to be important, too," Tymrak said.

City Administrator Larry Pippen agreed, "It’s something that we need to plan today, not tomorrow."

Malik also said as the city’s needs grow, they may want to think about hiring a part-time paid firefighting staff. Because so many people either work out of the county or can’t leave their jobs during the day, it’s hard to find a good daytime volunteer firefighting crew.

Later in the meeting, Pippen discussed the city park project, the park grant, and its fast approaching August deadline. Though he still gave an estimated June 2007 project completion time, he said things have been tough with the wet weather.

"So far this calendar year has been … a disaster," he said, pointing out several weather-related setbacks as well as a host of unforeseen circumstances.

Still, the project keeps moving along and so far nothing major has caused a huge problem for project workers, according to discussion.

Pippen also suggested the city hold another town meeting soon to update citizens on the progress of projects discussed at the last meeting.