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The City of Houghton is looking at purchasing a new fire truck with an aerial apparatus.
They are considering a demo truck in the amount of $1,013,271 with 7,000 miles on it and being sold as new.
The city was already considering purchasing a new pumper and budgeted the payment for it, but when the 30-year old aerial apparatus suffered a major failure last year, it became obvious that it needed to be replaced.
The city council approved an application for a USDA loan of $462,000, which is the same amount that was budgeted to make payments for a new pumper, along with $551,271 from the equipment fund to cover the balance.
The annual payment for the loan will be about $38,000. The interest rate for the loan is at 2.75%.
The council’s approval for purchasing the fire truck is contingent on the equipment passing the city’s inspection.
City Manager Eric Waara added that he has sent a letter to Michigan Tech requesting that the university consider directly participating financially in fire protection services.
Waara said more than half of the city’s fire calls are in response to situations on campus.
Fortunately, most of those calls do not require fire suppression but they still involve situations such as elevator rescues and the height of the buildings make specialized equipment essential.
Waara has offered to present to the university’s Board of Control personally at their next meeting.
In other business, the city council approved the expenditure of $3,000 to finish a downtown mural that halted when Bridge School closed down.
