Hall Co. Fire Services to get new rescue boat

GAINESVILLE - Looks as if Hall County Fire Services will have a new boat patrolling Lake Lanier in time for the Memorial Day holiday.

Hall County commissioners are expected to approve spending nearly $106,000 for the 23-foot rescue boat at a Thursday voting session.

At a Monday afternoon work session, the commissioners learned that the county received a lower bid from another company, but the William E. Munson Company - the company with the higher bid - already had a boat on the assembly line, meaning the county could take delivery on the boat in just 45 days.

Hall County Fire Chief Jeff Hood told commissioners that would mean the new boat would be ready for the busy summer season on the lake.

"We're busy on the lake year-round," said Hood. "After Memorial Day, as you know, it really ramps up and we have a lot of visitors on the lake - as many as 10 million a year - and unfortunately, we have accidents."

In fact, one deadly boating accident occurred a week ago in the Chestatee Bay area of Lake Lanier. Hood said Hall County's aging rescue boat was part of the rescue and recovery operation, but that one mission forced the boat to the repair shop.

"It's old - it's a 2005 model - and it's been repaired numerous times, and the life of it's gone. It was leaking water again," said Hood.

Hood acknowledged that the bid from Munson was about $14,000 higher than the low bid, but that company did not have a boat ready to sell. He advised commissioners the fire department really could not afford to wait until mid-summer for the lower-priced vessel to be built.

Hood said the old boat will be sold as surplus once the new boat arrives.