Radford council authorizes pursuit of lease financing for delayed fire truck

Radford City Council on Monday authorized City Manager Todd to pursue a lease-purchase agreement so the city can complete purchase of a custom fire truck that was ordered in 2022 and is now ready for delivery.

Council members and staff said the truck has been on the assembly line for about three years and the vendor requires payment within 15 days of shipment. Todd said staff negotiated the proposed financing rate down from 4.86% to 4.5% with Freedom Financial and recommended moving forward rather than launching a new procurement.

The financing request included authority for the city manager to work with attorneys at Sands Anderson to prepare closing documents. Todd said consultants advised that pursuing procurement would likely outweigh any benefit compared with accepting the proposed financing. “It’s a custom truck. It’s been made specifically for Radford with our specifications and Atlantic is gonna require us to complete the purchase of the truck,” Todd said.

Council members asked for additional information before final approval, including an amortization schedule, confirmation of whether the financing carries prepayment penalties, and a breakdown of annual payments. Councilor Seth asked whether state aid tied to the purchase could be used toward other eligible fire-department expenditures if the city later sold the truck; Todd and staff said they believed the state aid could be used for other eligible departmental purchases but that they would confirm with state officials and counsel. At one point a council member asked whether the city would have to repay “$8,859,000” to the state if it sold the truck; staff said they did not believe repayment would be required but would verify.

By vote, the council authorized the city manager to move forward to arrange financing; the council will consider the formal lease-purchase documents and resolution at a future meeting before executing the agreement.