The Northfield Public School Board voted unanimously on Nov. 24 to approve a resolution authorizing an eight-year lease-purchase agreement for a new front loader used by the district's buildings and grounds operation.

Val, the district's director of finance, told the board the new machine had already been delivered and that the district had traded in a 1992 loader. Val said the purchase is being handled through a state contract and estimated the payment would be about $34,500 per year for eight years. Val told the board the leasing company requested a formal board resolution to complete the paperwork.

Board members asked procedural and financial questions about the lease, including whether a buyout option could make sense if interest rates changed and whether the paperwork could be expedited since the loader had already been delivered. The board first moved the lease item from the table file to "items for individual action" and then approved the purchase-lease resolution by roll call. The clerk read the vote, with Butler, Epstein, Garwoods, Miller, Nelson, Quinell and Gonzales George recorded as voting "aye." The motion passed.

The resolution authorizes the superintendent and appropriate staff to finalize the lease-purchase under the state contract terms and to execute any required documents. The district's capital budget previously included funding for the replacement loader; the lease approach spreads the cost across the capital plan.

The board had discussed the manual trade-in and vendor vetting process during the presentation and did not take additional amendments to the resolution. The authorization will be reflected in the district's capital and operating capital records as directed in the resolution.

The board will return Dec. 8 for a regular meeting that includes other items on the agenda; the board adjourned the open portion of its meeting to move into a closed session on labor negotiations after approving the resolution.