Council votes to sell second Cloverdale fire truck, again

Sunday, November 25, 2007

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Town Council voted Wednesday night to sell the town's 1982 Seagrave fire truck for $10,000 -- again.

The 3-0 vote, council members John Davis and Judy Whitaker were not at the special council meeting, mirrored one the board made last month.

In fact, the three council members, President Don Sublett, Vice President Dennis Padgett and member Glen Vickroy, all voted to sell the 500-gallon tanker engine at an Oct. 26 special meeting.

However, the buyer from Miami apparently backed out of the deal and the town had to re-list the truck, Sublett said. The most recent bid comes from a volunteer fire department in North Hopkins, Texas, he added.

The truck was originally listed for $15,000 on the fire equipment Web site www.firetec.com, but Sublett said because the vehicle has a comparatively small tank and an open cab, $10,000 is a relatively good price.

Though the motion that passed Wednesday didn't explicitly state where the money from the sale would go, the previous two motions to sell fire trucks put the funds toward paying down the $150,000 bond that the town took out in order to start up its fire department in 2005.

The only remaining engine is a rusted 1973 Mac that Sublett said he is having trouble selling.

The town also has 14 sets of firefighter turnout gear that Vickroy said he hopes the town will sell next.

Sublett said he asked Clerk-Treasurer Patti Truax to call Davis and Whitaker, both ardent opponents of selling equipment from the now-defunct town fire department, to notify them of the special meeting. He had not heard from either, he added.

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