McComb selectmen committed Tuesday to buy a new pumper truck for the fire department.
With the city’s intention made official, Rosenbauer America of Wyoming, Minn., will build the truck for the city for $741,000 and deliver it in about eight months.
“This is a commitment to purchase the truck when it’s built and ready,” Fire Chief Garry McKenzie said.
“Then, if you decide you don’t want it, you’re on the hook for $2,500. That’s pretty cheap to reserve a fire truck.”
City Administrator David Myers said he had talked with several banks about financing the purchase and received quotes.
Selectman Tommy McKenzie said accepting financing should wait until closer to delivery, so the city isn’t accruing interest before the city even gets the truck. He noted the possibility that interest rates could decline somewhat, as well.
The board also revisited a tax abatement granted downtown in the city’s Depot District.
Randy Eckman, owner of Fox’s Pizza Den, asked that his abatement for improvements at the restaurant’s new location on Main Street be revised to last 10 years, rather than seven years. City ordinances contain provisions for both terms, which Eckman was aware of when he made his request.
The board unanimously repealed the previous approval and granted the longer term.
In other business, the board:
• Approved serving alcohol at an event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center.
• Approved a rental agreement for the Alpha Center.
• Waived the $750 fee for filling the pool in Edgewood Park for the Azalea Coronation in March next year.
• Accepted a quote of $3,550 per month from Schmidt Sweeping and Lawn Service for lawn service. Schmidt replaces Little Dixie.
• Approved two new vehicles, a Ford F-150 and a Dodge Charger, as unmarked police vehicles.
• Accepted the budgets of Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center and the McComb-Pike County Airport. Board members Matt Codding and Bruce Mullins voted against accepting the hospital budget, with Codding saying he had questions for which he wanted answers before accepting the budget.
• Bought two Dodge Chargers from Pine Belt Auto Group in Hattiesburg.
• Paid $7,147 to the Pike County Sheriff’s Department for housing city prisoners in July.
• Voted down a request by Codding to raise each board member’s budget by $1,490, on a 1-5 vote.
• Approved a revised claims docket of $311,000, with bills already paid no longer included in the report.
• Accepted municipal county revenues of $31,265 and business licenses of $5,095.
