Lehighton has agreed to the financial terms for a 109-foot Rear Mount ladder truck for its fire department.

On a 6-0 measure, borough council on Monday approved a proposal from Community Leasing Partners for a 12-year term at 2.97 percent.

Borough Manager Nicole Beckett said the borough will put $425,000, and will be financing $690,393. The total cost is $1,115,393.

Last month, council agreed to proceed with the letter of intent to purchase a Ladder Truck for the fire department.

Beckett said the truck will replace the fire department’s 31-year-old ladder truck, and that specifications are being finalized on the truck, which will be purchased from KME.

She said the purchase of the truck has been discussed for many years, and noted that both the borough and the fire department have applied for a Federal Emergency Management Agency AFG Grant for numerous years with hopes of offsetting the costs, only to not receive grant funding year after year.

Beckett said council acted on the proposal in order to avoid a 2.5% increase in cost, and that the borough will utilize the funds from the fire equipment tax allocation for the down payment and annual payments on the truck.

She said that in 2002, council had allocated a half-mill to fund future fire equipment purchases which has continued into this year. In 2019, an additional half-mill was added for fire apparatus/equipment purchase.

In October, borough fire Chief Patrick Mriss told council that for the third straight year, it appeared as if the fire department was again being passed over for a grant it applied for to get a new firetruck.

Mriss said that even if the department would again apply for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program through FEMA, the earliest it would get the truck would likely be several years out.

Council then agreed on a 6-0 vote to advertise the department’s 1994 KME Pump firetruck on Municibid.