By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster’s Fire Department and Public Works Department soon will get a new vehicle each after the City Council approved about $60,000 for the purchases during a recent meeting.

During its March 28 meeting, the council voted unanimously to purchase a $30,111.80 Chevrolet Silverado for the Fire Department to use for building inspections purposes, and voted unanimously to purchase a $30,463 Dodge Ram 1500 for the city’s Public Works Department.

Both vehicles were purchased from the state’s approved bid list, from which cities are allowed to purchase directly without separately bidding the items out.

Funding for both vehicles was already included in the departments’ fiscal year 2016 budgets.

Alabaster City Manager George Henry said the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck will see general use by the Public Works Department, and will replace an aging vehicle the department is currently using.

The Chevrolet Silverado will be used by one of the city’s building inspectors to travel to inspection sites throughout the city.

Because the city recently combined the Building Inspections Services Department with its Fire Department, the Silverado will be managed by the Fire Department.

In late February, the City Council voted to roll all building inspections responsibilities into the Fire Department, and to eliminate the city’s building official position. The responsibilities previously handled by the building official are now handled by the city’s fire marshal.

Under the city’s previous structure, those looking to obtain building licenses from the city were required to first meet with the Building Inspections Services Department before traveling to the Fire Department to schedule an inspection by the fire marshal. After a successful fire marshal inspection, the person looking to obtain a license then had to travel back to the Building Inspections Services Department to receive final approval.

As a result of combining the two departments, builders can now complete the entire permitting process at the Fire Department. The department also will handle the city’s building code enforcement.

The city combined the two departments at the request of Mayor Marty Handlon, who previously said she felt there was “a lot of duplication between the two departments.”