City to move forward with fire truck purchase
By JIM FAILE
Hartsville City Council is expected to approve a resolution Tuesday authorizing the interim city manager to issue a letter of intent to purchase a new ladder truck for the city fire department.
Council received an update on efforts to acquire a new ladder truck during its monthly work session Tuesday night.
Officials recently took the department’s 34-year-old ladder truck out of service after it failed to pass an inspection. The mechanism holding the ladder in place is no longer working properly, Fire Chief Bill Heathman said.
The current truck is a 1976 model acquired by the city and put into service in 1996.
City officials plan to buy a new truck with a refurbished ladder for about $660,000, Heathman said. That’s a bargain, Heathman said, because buying a new truck with a brand new ladder system would cost an estimated $1.1 million, he said.
Heathman and other fire department officials recently traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to inspect the truck they want.
Repairing the ladder system on the current truck would cost about $87,000, Heathman said. The city has already spent about $100,000 on repairs to the city, he said.
Council also got an update on the proposed city budget of nearly $13.5 million for the coming fiscal year. Interim City Manager Vern Myers said revenue projections for the new year, which starts July 1, are up by about $120,000 from where they were when the budget was first presented to council on March 19.
Myers said the city staff is still working to find possible areas to cut from the budget to keep expenditures in line with revenues. Council has not yet had first reading on the budget.
Myers told council that site work has begun on the Hartsville Gardens Apartment Complex on South Fourth Street.
He also told council that property for a community garden on South Fifth Street has been cleared and that project organizers would soon begin laying out plans for the property.
Council is also expected to receive an annual update from the Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority during its regular meeting Tuesday. PDRTA is looking to expand bus service in Hartsville, Myers said.
In addition, council is expected to hear from Dr. Lee Gardner, chairman of the Hartsville Airport Advisory Board, who will present the board’s annual update to council.
Council is scheduled to give final approval to an ordinance rezoning about 5.5 acres of property on Heatley Drive to allow construction of an apartment facility.
Also on Tuesday’s agenda is a vote on a resolution for the city’s application for a $474,000 Community Development Block Grant to upgrade and enlarge water lines in South Hartsville.
Tuesday’s regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. in council chambers at city hall.