Councilors approve fire truck financing
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — City Council took time before their scheduled listening tour with citizens at Bonanza restaurant Monday night to handle one item of business.
On the agenda for the evening was the approval of a financing package for the Presque Isle Fire Department’s new fire truck. Councilors had authorized the purchase during their Sept. 4 meeting and asked City Manager Jim Bennett to bring financing details to them for the Sept. 16 meeting.
Bennett, Finance Director Pat Webb, Fire Chief Darrell White and the councilors discussed the financial details of the loan, which was obtained through KeyBank for $503,722, at an interest rate of 1.99 percent. (Pierce’s base price was $522,592, with a prepay of $18,870, leaves a total of $503,722.)
“The loan is for five years, but we can prepay any amount at any time, with no penalty,” said Webb.
Webb said although the city has over $200,000 in reserve for purchasing a truck, that money won’t be used at this time, noting — given the economy — the money might be needed elsewhere in the budget. If not, Webb said the funds could be paid toward the loan at any time.
“The next lowest rate we received was for 2.57 percent interest at Katahdin,” said Webb.
Councilor Dick Engels said with interest rates going up, trying to secure a low interest rate is good for the city.
“I’ll make a motion to authorize the chairman of the City Council and the city treasurer to obtain financing for a fire truck from Pierce Fire Apparatus as approved on Sept. 4 from KeyBank for $503,722, for a period not to exceed five years and at an interest rate of 1.99 percent,” said Engels, with one caveat — that the paperwork not be signed for a week to allow city officials to obtain financial data from the audit committee.
All five councilors present — Council Chair Emily Smith, Dep. Chair Randy Smith, and Councilors Engels, Pete Hallowell and Mike Chasse — voted to approve the loan agreement with KeyBank.
