By Asia Ashley
LaGrange Daily News
WEST POINT, Ga. — West Point Fire Chief Milton Smith requested city council’s approval of an agreement that would allow the fire department to purchase a new fire truck.
At the Wednesday morning work session, Smith said four bids for the fire truck were received, and after reviewing proposals and interviewing the companies, fire staff recommended that the truck be purchased from Williams Fire Apparatus out of Ashland, Alabama, who had the lowest bid at $392,697.
Smith said since the city’s fire department extended its services into Harris County, the department will use West Point’s portion of Harris County’s special-purpose, local-option sales tax, or SPLOST, allocations, which budgeted up to $350,000 for a fire truck.
The difference in the cost will come from West Point’s Kia Motors revenues.
“When we were going through the Kia process we were able to generate additional revenue through various means and we put the funds into reserve accounts,” he said. “We have the funds to pay the $42,000 difference in what SPLOST will pay and the actual cost of the truck.”
The new truck will be a pumper with a custom cab that will allow for more space inside the cab of the truck, said Smith, and will be shorter than the department’s current trucks which will allow for a better turning radius. It will be about the same height but will carry more water, Smith noted.
The department’s two current fire trucks will remain operational.
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(c)2014 the LaGrange Daily News (LaGrange, Ga.)
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