Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Thunder possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Thunder possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

A 1997 converted bread delivery truck is on the way out as an equipment truck for the Tarboro Fire Department after the town council unanimously approved acceptance of a bid for a new air/rescue truck from Fire Connections of Rocky Mount.

The air/rescue truck is a support vehicle that rolls with fire crews on calls, carrying extra gear and oxygen tanks.

The new truck will be equipped with a compressor to fill air tanks so that responding firefighters never run out of air while fighting a blaze.

Fire Connections was the sole supplier to submit a bid, despite the IFB (Invitation for Bids) being published on multiple sites and sent to specific equipment suppliers.

In the IFB, Fire Chief Lee Bell wrote that the purpose of the truck would be “to serve as air and light support on scene and carry equipment needed for multiple emergency situations. The solution must provide a cost-effective means to enhance service delivery to the community in which we serve.”

The suppliers were all based in North Carolina and had the capability of building and servicing this type of equipment.

The lone bid was for $469,445 — or $5,555 less than Bell had told council members he felt the equipment would cost when he first presented it on March 6 during the town’s annual council retreat. The funding for the truck is from the $3.4 million received by the town from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The vehicle will be a two-door International MV607 4x2 with the chassis equipped with an underbody three-way receiver with three winch connections. It will be powered by a Cummins L9 six-cylinder engine.

In other business, the council voted unanimously to add two new grant programs to the town’s existing facade improvement grant. The new grants are for the architectural design grant and the building improvement grant.

Like the facade program, both 50-50 grants require an application and review by the Downtown Grant Review Committee, formerly the facade committee, which will be expanded from three to five members.

The council unanimously approved an amendment to the Tarboro Manual of Standard Designs, Details and Specifications to allow 50 feet of right-of-way for curb and gutter streets in residential developments and authorize the use of roll-type curbing where appropriate.

While not noted at the meeting, the change is expected to aid in the development of new housing, such as the 207-unit Katie’s Field Subdivision being planned by developer C.B. Daughtridge and three partners operating as Big Time Grand LLC.

The development is planned for 42 acres behind Mayo Knitting Mills.

The council also unanimously approved a resolution directing Town Clerk Leslie Lunsford to investigate a petition, which is the first step in the voluntary annexation process, on roughly 6.45 acres of land that will be the site of Tractor Supply.

The request was made by Pinehurst-based Tarboro Development Group LLC and signed by Thomas Gavin Melia, who along with Ralph J. Ronalter Jr., William C. Ronalter, Pine Hill Trust and Linda Suydam was listed on April 16, 2021, articles of organization with the Secretary of State’s office.

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