WILTON – The Selectboard directed the town manager to consider investigating offers from two financial institutions to fund the purchase of the town’s new fire truck Tuesday, with the 10-year bond anticipated to cover the majority of the $500,000 cost.
The board approved the purchase of a HME Ahrens-Fox stock 78-foot Aerial Quint for $500,000 on Dec. 23, 2014, at the recommendation of the firetruck committee and Wilton Fire Department. A late 2013 model that was discounted due to being used as a demonstration model over the past year, the 78-foot quint was selected over a 15-year-old, 2000 Pierce Quint truck.
The new vehicle will replace a scrapped 1973 Snorkel truck, as well as Engine 7, a 1993 vehicle that is currently for sale. The new truck is anticipated to be operational in March or April.
Tuesday, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said that she had been in contact with possible lending partners, including three local banks: Androscoggin Bank, Gorham Savings and TD Bank, as well as a fourth institution, Municipal Leasing Credit Corporation. That national lender was recommended by the company that sold Wilton the fire truck, and specializes in leases to municipalities.
Irish said that she recommended further consideration for MLC Corp., which offered the lowest interest rate at 2.99 percent. That rate presumes that the town will use $20,000 in the fire department capital equipment account to reduce the size of the bond to $480,000, to be paid off over 10 years. The first payment would not be due until November, Irish said, giving Wilton time to arrange payment at its annual town meeting in June. Previously, town officials have said that the town will likely use up to $300,000 available in the Comfort Inn tax increment financing account to reduce the impact of the payments on the annual tax assessment.
Irish said she also wanted to talk with Androscoggin Bank, which had offered a 3.36 percent rate, to see if they could meet MLC Corp.’s arrangement.
Neither institution, she noted, would charge the town extra if it chose to pay off the loan more quickly. One possible source of revenue for such an early payment could include the potential sale of Engine 7, which the town intends to advertise.
The Selectboard agreed to table the issue until its next meeting, when a decision is anticipated.
