CANTON — The village Board of Trustees on Monday matched the Town Council, agreeing to provide $200,000 for the Canton Fire Department to buy a ladder truck.

The support gives the fire department $400,000 toward the cost of the $685,000 truck. The department also has approached St. Lawrence University, SUNY Canton, Canton Housing Authority and United Helpers for assistance.

Department Treasurer Mi-chael K. Morgan asked the board for $250,000, which failed to win a majority, with only trustees Stephen M. Putman and Jesse C. Coburn in favor. Mayor Charlotte C. Ramsay said she felt more comfortable with a $200,000 commitment and an invitation for the department to ask for more if it has trouble raising the money.

Proceeds from the sale of the department's aging ladder truck, which is owned by the village, also will likely go toward the purchase price.

"Unless we call it scrap, we can't give it to you," Village Clerk Sally Noble said.

The financial arrangements should be cleared with the state comptroller's office because municipalities sometimes get into trouble when they give money away, even to worthy causes, attorney Gerald J. Ducharme said.

"If they're million-dollar trucks and the old one is only worth $30,000, that sounds like scrap to me," Mr. Putman said.

The village board also:

■ Approved a less-expensive agreement with another nonprofit agency, purchasing for $1 a playground that Head Start fenced and gated on Priest Field — which is village property — last year.

Head Start, which leases a building on Priest Field, will have exclusive use of the playground for an hour and a half each weekday. The village will be responsible for maintenance and mowing.

"It's taken this long to get it resolved," Ms. Ramsay said.

■ Is considering an informal ban on smoking in certain public parks and outside its recreational facility. The village isn't planning enforcement, but might set up designated areas for smoking at the Canton Pavilion, Priest Field, Buck Street Playground, Willow Island and Bend in the River Park.

Ogdensburg will have a public hearing May 27 on an ordinance proposing a similar ban. The idea is supported by the St. Lawrence County Public Health Department and the county Tobacco Free Community Partnership.

■ Has modified a purchase option with Communications Capital Group, Roswell, Ga., a telecommunications investment company, to $325,000 for the rights to 15 years of cell phone and wireless service leases on its water towers. The board previously considered a $425,000 payment over 30 years.