The Croton Fire Council took its biggest step yet toward a new Engine 119 at its Jan. 27 meeting, with the truck committee ready to hand specifications — and a price — to the village manager. The update was one of several that ranged from Half Moon Bay bridge repairs to a village request for a sit-down with the MTA over fire and EMS issues. Toward a new Engine 119 The Engine 119 committee reported it is ready to present the specs, with a number attached, to the village manager, and has two potential dates to finalize them with the builder. The pace is a step up from December, when the council reported the specs were complete and sent back. The replacement tower ladder for Ladder 44, meanwhile, remains set for a 2027 delivery, according to the minutes. Bridge and MTA The deputy mayor, who attended the meeting of the council that governs the volunteer Croton Fire Department, reported that the village has approved the department's Big Bucks raffle fundraiser and thanked members for everything they do. Tickets are expected soon. On the Half Moon Bay bridge, planning is underway for repair work that is in its beginning stages and expected to start roughly in December, with one lane kept open at all times so traffic can get through, according to the minutes. The village has also sent a letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority regarding issues that have been occurring, and requested a meeting to hash out concerns on both the fire side and the EMS side. A busy stretch of calls In the chiefs' reports, members heard about a run of snow and EMS-assist calls — most notably, near the end of a recent standby, a call to the home of one of the department's own, where members pulled together to shovel and salt the driveway so EMS could get a family member out of the house and to the ambulance. Another came the day of the meeting, to help a resident out of an apartment. 2nd Assistant Chief Joe Streany reported a turnout of about 40 at the department's first training session, and said the recent department meeting went well, with members using it as a chance to raise items for discussion. He is taking on the firehouses while apparatus falls to another chief officer, he said, and about a half-dozen members made the mutual-aid run to the Montrose fire — and were put to work when they got there. The elevator at the Harmon firehouse will be down for roughly three weeks for repairs. Coming up on the department calendar: an officers meeting Feb. 2; the dinner dance Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Cortlandt Colonial, honoring two outgoing chiefs, at $120 a person with about 35 members signed up so far; a yearlong training schedule being assembled by the training committee; and physicals in mid-April. Dollars and dues Streany also delivered what he intends as his final holiday-party report: the bill came to $4,680 for 60 members and guests, with Harmon Engine's $845 share paid, Columbian Hook & Ladder still owing $325, and Chemical Engine and Washington Engine each owing $1,105. The council's account holds $12,849.08, the treasurer reported, with paperwork expected to be done this week to restart the fund drive with Municipal Marketing, and a Fire Council budget to be prepared for the February meeting. Members were also reminded that the department has finally cleared, after two years, a matter with the state comptroller's office over its 2% money filing — copies of the letter went into company mailboxes, and company presidents and treasurers were asked to take note. Membership, parades and planning Two membership changes won approval: a Harmon Engine member moves from the active list to the social list once department property is returned, and a Columbian Hook & Ladder member moved from active to life-administrative status, along with a change of address. Engine 120 is lined up for both St. Patrick's Day parades — Peekskill on March 14 and Buchanan on March 15 — and the council voted $100 for a quarter-page ad in the Sleepy Hollow Fire Department's journal. The Explorer post's lead-advisor role is changing hands as members work on renewing its charter; two members were tapped to plan the department's Recruit NY recruitment event; and a bylaw amendment, numbered 7.1.5, comes up for a vote at the February meeting. Asked who represents the Fire Department at Planning Board meetings, the council heard that it is generally the chiefs — there is no official liaison — and that issues have been discussed with Fire Marshal Ferguson. February's meeting brings the bylaw vote and the council budget request, and Engine 119's specs, price attached, now go to the village manager.