HOULKA – The Town of Houlka is now one step closer to getting the new fire truck they need to maintain their class seven fire rating.
The Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution transferring one of their rounds of the Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program (RFTAAP) to the Town of Houlka, on Monday.
“The county, after we made sure of how many rounds that we still have available and hoping that our state legislators will pass additional rounds in the near future, we decided it was ok for the county to transfer one of our rounds that we have available, to the Town of Houlka,” said Chickasaw County Fire Coordinator Jonathan Blankenship. “They have an immediate need for a new fire truck.”
The round of RFTAAP is for $90,000, so it will not cover the entire cost of the truck, however, it is a start.
Notably, the county just finished a RFTAAP Grant for Rhodes Chapel, taking delivery of their new truck in March of this year.
That truck cost $261,999, and it is estimated that it will be around that for Houlka, however no concrete prices have been obtained yet.
That would leave the Town of Houlka to try and find about $170,000 give or take.
“There will still be additional funding that the Town of Houlka will have to come up with, but hopefully this will be a big help to them.”
The Town of Houlka will now have to pass a resolution, the same as the county, accepting the round of RFTAAP.
From there, they will have to complete part one of the application and it will have to be approved by the State Fire Coordinator’s Office and then they will need to order the truck.
However, the extended delivery times allow them to lock in the truck at the current price, and they don’t have to pay until they take delivery of the vehicle.
“At this point, they’ll have a year to a year and a half to secure funding or figure out exactly how they’re going to finish paying for it.”
Blankenship also said that the $90,000 comes after the process. They have to write a check for the full amount, and then they are reimbursed the $90,000.
He said he is just thankful that the county was in a position to help them out, and he thanked the supervisors for their generosity to the county fire service.
“I am just proud that we could get this done and I know the supervisors support Houlka just as well as they support all of our fire service. The supervisors have been really good to our county fire services and this is just another example of that. I want to thank them for that, and I know Houlka appreciates it too.”
