City to purchase new fire truck

The Greencastle Fire Department will soon have a new, more-versatile piece of firefighting equipment at its disposal. The Greencastle Common Council approved additional appropriations to the 2009 budget for the purchase of a new truck at Tuesday's monthly meeting.

City officials will be traveling to Appleton, Wisc. on July 1 and 2 to take delivery on the Pierce PUC, which will serve the city as a pumper rescue truck. Previously, the city has not had water pumping capabilities in its rescue vehicle.

"Due to limited manpower, we decided to combine two functions," Fire Chief Bill Newgent said.

The combination of functions could also save the city on gas, with only one truck having to roll for rescue calls.

The truck is being purchased by a partnership of the city of Greencastle and Greencastle township. A $200,000 down payment has already been made, with a considerable amount paid by the township, according to Newgent. $52,300 will be paid by a grant from the state.

Of the remaining sum to be paid, $270,719 was approved to be transferred from the city's riverboat fund. Of this, $218,419 will be repaid with two more payments from the township and from the tax draws for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The truck will replace the city's 1971 Mac fire engine. With installation of radios and other equipment, the new truck may not be in service until the end of August.

Clerk-treasurer Teresa Glenn reported on cuts in the 2009 budget received from the state.

In the figures received from the state, the most significant cuts were for street expenses, meaning the city will not be able to work on as many street projects as it might like.

However, Glenn thinks the current figures should be workable.

"If we get the money that's been certified for us to receive, then our budget will be intact," Glenn said.

Glenn also reported that $4 million from the general fund was placed in a money market account where it will earn 3 percent interest, as opposed to the 0.5 percent it had been earning.

To counteract the cuts from the state, Mayor Sue Murray reported that City Engineer Garth Hughes is continuing to work on applications for stimulus money for street projects. Although she said the process has been "tedious," they are continuing to go through all the necessary steps.

"We're just going to continue to persevere and hope for the best on this," Murray said.

The council also approved an ordinance making it easier to obtain noise ordinance exceptions in certain situations. If a council meeting will not happen in time for a request, the mayor can now make approval without the council.

"My hope is that most noise ordinance requests still make their way to city council. But I think it's nice should a situation arise where there isn't time for it to come before council," said councilor Adam Cohen, who originally proposed the change.

The city granted a pair of street closures and a noise ordinance waiver for some upcoming events. The Putnam County Fair Parade will require closures from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on July 17. The Indianapolis Colts "Make It Personal Tour" will require closures on Franklin and Indiana streets from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. on July 14.

The noise ordinance waiver was granted to DePauw for a luau for new students on the south quad from 10 p.m. to midnight Aug. 22.