GRANITE QUARRY — The Board of Aldermen accepted a bid for a new fire engine Thursday, but negotiations will aim at lowering the final price.
Aldermen considered two bids, which were opened last Friday for the new truck. Atlantic Emergency Solution/Pierce submitted a bid of $559,891; Safe Industries KME, $577,306.
The board approved the low bid of Atlantic Emergency Solution/Pierce of Appleton, Wis., with a stipulation that the Fire Department negotiate a lower price.
Mayor Bill Feather said $450,000 was the budget figure the town was shooting for, but he acknowledged $488,000 might be a more realistic goal.
Granite Quarry has set aside $200,000 toward the purchase of a new truck, with the intent to finance an additional $250,000. With some budget adjustments in the Fire Department, the $200,000 might be able to grow to as much as $230,000, Feather said.
Meanwhile, the department has identified several items that could be deleted or modified in the truck specifications to bring the price down.
They include things such as reducing the engine’s horsepower from 500 to 450; eliminating seat embroidery, a CD player/radio, company-supplied graphics, a rotary light and a diamond-plate hose cover; changing mirrors; reducing a generator’s output; and going from three-tone to two-tone paint.
Whatever the final figure is, “we’re still going to have to confirm that price,” Alderman Mike Brinkley emphasized.
The new truck could be delivered as early as September or October.
Aldermen called Thursday’s special meeting to discuss the fire engine bids and a “sphere of influence agreement” with the city of Salisbury.
Salisbury officials asked the Granite Quarry board to renew an agreement, first created in October 1995, spelling out how far Granite Quarry’s extra-territorial zoning jurisdiction reached in relation to Salisbury’s.
The 15-year agreement lapsed a couple of years ago, Feather said, and Salisbury wants it renewed, with no changes, so the municipalities remained clear on lines and wouldn’t be stepping over each other’s boundaries.
Feather said he met recently with Salisbury City Manager Doug Paris and Salisbury Mayor Paul Woodson to discuss the agreement.
Aldermen approved a renewal of the sphere of influence.
In one other matter, aldermen gave their consensus to the placement of a Peace Pole in Granite Lake Park.
Over the past 10 years, the Covenant Community Connection, a subgroup of the Salisbury-Rowan Human Relations Council, has been placing Peace Poles in parks across the county.
The Peace Poles are part of the group’s annual Let’s Get Connected Days. Seven Peace Poles already have been erected.
Granite Quarry’s Peace Pole will go up May 17.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.