Athens City Council members can now move forward with purchasing a custom-made, $1.03 million fire truck after passing two ordinances at last night’s council meeting.
The first approved ordinance will allow the city to take out a bond, not exceeding $1 million, to pay for part of the truck, said Councilwoman Sherry Coon, D-2nd Ward.
City officials currently have about $640,000 saved but said they are unsure of how much they will be borrowing, Coon added.
“My wish is that we do use some money that we’ve saved for the (truck) purchase so we don’t have to borrow all the money,” said Councilman Elahu Gosney, D-at Large.
The second ordinance council passed will allow the service-safety director to enter into a contract with the Sutphen Corporation — which will be building the city a custom-made truck.
Because the truck will be custom-made, construction time will take about a year, said Councilman Jim Sands, D-at Large.
“It will take a while before we have the truck on the street,” he added.
Council members are still waiting for a response from Ohio University regarding whether they will help purchase the truck, Coon said.
“I would hope that they come through with money for this because 85 percent of buildings would be on campus,” said Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-3rd Ward.
Also at the meeting, John Calhoun, executive director of OU Student Senate’s Know Noise Task Force, announced he will be asking students to sign a ballot initiative to change the current noise ordinance.
The initiative would require Student Senate to gather 1,000 signatures from students wishing to change the legislation, Calhoun said.
Students are citizens too, he said, and they want their voice to be heard.
The changes in the legislation could include written warnings with a waiver for first time offenders and violations that reset after 90 days, he said.
The task force’s goal is for students to not be arrested for violating a noise ordinance, Calhoun said.
“The hope is for students to self-police themselves,” he said.
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