CHICKASHA – Two days after the City Council voted Sept. 16 to finance a $3.14 million debt with Liberty Bank to buy two new firefighting vehicles at a 4.75% fixed interest rate for 10 years, the Federal Reserve approved a halfpoint reduction in the benchmark interest rate.
The council’s vote was 8-0-1. Councilman Charlie Burruss abstained. Councilman John Smith expressed reservation about “locking in” the interest rate when it appeared the Fed was poised to initiate a cut, but he voted “yes” anyway.
The day after the rate cut, Mayor Zach Grayson called City Manager Keith Johnson, who told him the loan document had not yet been signed.
“We haven’t signed anything,” Johnson said in response to a question from Councilman Kelly Boyd at the council’s Oct. 7 meeting. “We’re still negotiating,” the city manager said.
“We will solicit new [financing] proposals again as we get about six months out” for delivery of the vehicles, Finance Director Elaine Jensen told the council.
Chickasha will pay $2,126,805 for a 100-foot ladder truck and $1,016,797 for a 750-gallon pumper truck, city records indicate.
In each case, “This lease/purchase item will not come on the books until delivery of the truck,” which is not expected for 34 to 38 months, and payments won’t start until approximately one year after delivery, Fire Chief Tony Samaniego wrote. No down payment is required, he said.
Samaniego said the Chickasha Fire Department has submitted its orders for both trucks. The City Council followed his recommendations and accepted bids submitted by Sutphen, a family-owned emergency services vehicle manufacturer based in Amlin, Ohio.
“We’ll budget $300,000 this year” and plan to set aside similar amounts each following year in order to have “roughly $1 million” in cash when the new vehicles arrive, the chief previously told the council.
The new fire trucks will be financed from the proceeds of a 1.25% sales tax Chickasha voters approved on Aug. 8, 2023, primarily to pay for construction of a new water treatment plant and other capital improvements, Samaniego said.
The vehicles will be purchased through Heartland Fire Trucks based in Marlow, and its service center is located “in the Central High area” near Duncan, he said. Sutphen will provide a five-year service plan on both vehicles, records reflect.
The two trucks are expected to serve the City of Chickasha “for the next 20 years,” Samaniego indicated.
Chickasha’s Department of Fire and EMS operates a fleet of 13 emergency vehicles from two stations.
Those include a 14-year-old ladder truck, a 2020-model engine/pumper and an 11-year-old engine/pumper, two brush trucks for extinguishing pasture fires, a couple of command vehicles, a squad vehicle, five ambulances, and one tanker “that is a Grady County truck parked at Station 1 for joint use,” Samaniego told Southwest Ledger.
“We will keep all of our trucks after we take delivery of the new ones, so that we can build up our reserve fleet and prepare for future growth,” the chief said. “If all goes according to plan, we will have an adequate reserve fleet and an apparatus replacement program moving forward. This will also help us ramp up our maintenance program, ultimately extending the life of the trucks.”