Special meeting approves purchase of used bucket truck, to be paid from emergency rainy day fund

At a special town meeting, officials voted to buy a used 2012 Ford F450 bucket truck for $16,000 and to cover the purchase from the town's emergency rainy day allocation.

The vote followed a presentation by Speaker 2, a town staff member, who described the vehicle and the condition of the town's existing truck. "It's a 2012 Ford f 4 50 bucket truck. It has an Olathex a t 200 lift mechanism with a working height of 34 feet. It's a 6.8 liter v 10. It has a 197,000 miles on it," Speaker 2 said. The staff member also noted a 7,000-watt generator with about 150 hours, receptacles for power tools, a backup camera and a dedicated battery backup to lower the bucket if the truck battery fails.

The meeting record shows discussion about the condition of the town's current truck, which staff described as having a hole in the exhaust manifold and producing harmful fumes in the cab. "So it's my opinion that that Falcon truck is unsafe," Speaker 2 said, arguing the vehicle should be replaced.

Council business included the financing plan. An official noted, "We have 25,000 appropriated for emergency, so we don't have to do an additional appropriation," meaning the attendees believed the town could use the existing emergency allocation rather than hold a separate public- hearing appropriation process. The transcript records a rainy day fund total of $73,009.45, including the $25,000 emergency allocation; meeting participants described the remaining non-emergency portion as roughly $50,000.

Questions during the discussion covered the seller's offer to take the old truck in trade or to pay cash at auction, and the condition and equipment on the purchase candidate. Speaker 2 said the candidate truck had been used as a service truck in Missouri and Arkansas, had recently been serviced before sale, and that "everything on it works. It runs and drives great good tires, cold AC, clean title." Another participant raised safety-gear concerns, noting the town's current fall-harness equipment "is outdated." Speaker 2 and others discussed purchasing or appropriating additional funds as needed for harnesses and other safety items.

The motion to purchase was made by Speaker 2 and seconded by Speaker 4. After a voice vote — "All in favor signify by saying aye" — the presiding official said, "Motion carries." The meeting record does not show a roll-call tally by name.

Participants also discussed securing the outdoor storage area between the town garage and the fire department, suggesting a roof and chain-link ends to protect implements and new parts from theft and weather. That idea was presented as a future project to plan and fund separately; the meeting did not adopt any formal appropriation or project authorization for the enclosure.

As a separate, nonfinancial note at the end of the meeting, an official said the Cascade High School FFA would plant trees at the park and bushes at town hall on Monday the 29th at 5 p.m., with some additional plantings planned for next year through the Hendricks County Soil and Water Conservation group's annual sale.

What happened next: The approved purchase was authorized by voice vote and participants indicated the town would use the designated emergency rainy day allocation to complete the transaction; staff also flagged the need to buy updated safety harnesses and consider a plan to secure outdoor equipment storage.