New York State Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson [D- 104] recently secured $65,000 to fund a Utility Terrain Vehicle [UTV] for the Milton Fire Department. This vehicle will allow the department to reach and traverse areas of difficult terrain.

 

Jacobson said he was happy to be able to present the department with a check for the vehicle.

 

“This is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job,” he said, adding that Matt Kneeter and Gina Hansut came to his office and said, “We need this utility vehicle because we have a different type of fire district. Here you have a mix of suburban, farms, woods, a new pier down by the Hudson and all kinds of stuff in-between. It’s quite a cool vehicle. I want to thank this volunteer fire department, and all of the departments, because you do so much good for everyone in the community.” He said the $65,000 came from a special fund that he can tap as an Assemblyman for his district.

 

“They are capital funds because it is for something that is going to last and not for day to day maintenance; this is for equipment and things of that nature,” he said. “One of the reasons this is so good for everybody is when you give money directly to a volunteer fire house or a library is there is no bureaucracy and you know the money is going to be spent efficiently and you know it’s going to get the job done. The more money I can bring back from Albany, the less money that the local taxpayers have to pay, so it’s a win-win for everybody.”

 

Fire Chief Stephen Rivieccio said there is need for this vehicle,  especially down by the railroad tracks because the department can quickly gain access or get up on top of the orchards where there are a lot of trails.”

 

This UTV was the spearheaded by Matt Kneeter.

 

“We are such a diverse fire district, between the mountains, apple orchards, the CSX train tracks, the piers on the river, so we go from the river all the way up to the mountains. We never had a vehicle that could get into some places that we actually need to go and would scratch up our brush truck. Now we have something where we can get into a lot tighter spaces and more effectively do our jobs very well.”

 

Kneeter said this UTV is a Polaris 1,000 Trail Boss and has four-wheel drive, a winch, forward and backup cameras, heat and air conditioning.

 

“We went with the bigger model because we can have this out in the middle of winter of the dead of summer,” he said. “It is pretty stable and handles very well. The Trail Boss model has a better suspension and has a few extra inches of clearance.”

 

Kneeter said they have a skid unit on order.

 

“It will actually hold water and have a hose reel on the other side of it and can hold a patient in a stokes basket,” he said. “We also have a trailer coming so we can go throughout the county. We’re going to outfit it with more brush fire equipment like rakes, shovels, a leaf blower and some Indian packs, collapsible tank bags with a 5 gallon capacity.   

 

Ulster County Legislator Gina Hansut recalled telling [firefighter] Chip Kent that if there is anything he needs do not hesitate to contact her. She later found out that the state was making some funding available for items like this, so she and members of the department reached out to Assemblyman Jacobson and asked for his help.

 

“He didn’t even bat an eye and graciously said absolutely, what do you need,” she said. “I think often times things are very difficult to get done and the end result take a long time. This is one of those things where we actually went to a meeting and found out the vehicle was about a year to get and here we are with this...one of my passions is public safety and I am very happy to be a part of it.”