PELHAM – The Pelham City Council approved the purchase of a new fire engine for the Pelham Fire Department at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 20.

Fire Chief Tim Honeycutt said the fully equipped pumper truck has a price tag of $785,000 and will be manufactured in Wisconsin by Pierce Manufacturing Inc. The apparatus is expected to arrive in Pelham in late July or early August of 2018.

When the new engine arrives and goes into service, Engine 92 at Station 2 will be sold in an effort to recoup some of the money spent on the new engine. Honeycutt said Engine 92, which is about 12 years old, has a value of $90,000 to $100,000.

The purchase of the new engine is a part of capital improvements plans to buy one new apparatus every two years to replace aging apparatuses in the department’s fleet.

In the coming years, Honeycutt said two more apparatuses will be purchased and then the department will be done purchasing engines for a while.

“We take pride in our apparatuses and equipment so we expect to get a lot of good use out of it,” he said. “We appreciate the City Council, mayor and city manager for allowing us to push this project forward.”

In other business, the council:

-Approved an ordinance to annex 47.39 acres of real property, owned by Elizabeth Sherman Pardue, into the corporate limits of the city. The property is located along Shelby County 11.

-Approved a special use permit to AT&T for modifications of equipment to the existing wireless telecommunications tower located at 5000 Oak Mountain Drive.

– Approved a special use permit to AT&T for modifications of equipment to the existing wireless telecommunications tower located at 2000 Bearden Road.

-Approved a resolution designating certain city officials who will have the authority to execute financial documents on behalf of the city. City manager Gretchen DiFante was added to the list of authorized personnel.

-Approved a resolution to declare as surplus 10 vehicles that are no longer needed for public or municipal purposes and authorized the disposal of the same. The vehicles are set to be sold at auction.

-Approved a resolution to participate in the 2018 Severe Weather Preparedness Tax Holiday – Feb. 23-25, 2018.

-Approved a resolution to authorize a lease agreement with TCF Equipment Finance for equipment at Ballantrae Golf Club.

-Tabled a resolution to approve or deny a business license application for existing business Bodhi Zen Massage, LLC due to a name change.