Commissioners consider buying remounted medic unit for new Station 2; funding sources discussed

The Board of County Commissioners heard detailed discussion about purchasing a remounted medic unit that staff said could be assigned to the new Station 2 in Mineral Bluff.
Staff described the vehicle as a Ford F-550 chassis with a remounted service box, saying the chassis alone is roughly $75,000 and the box-plus-chassis package was described in discussion as about $278,000. “It comes with a 5 year warranty on the workmanship and then a 2 year electrical warranty,” an emergency services staff member said.
The staff member said the box is a heavy ring-style box that the vendor in Greenville, Tennessee, remounts on a newer chassis; the vendor quoted a shorter lead time because the unit is already in production and could be available in September or October. The staff member said the vendor can remount existing boxes at a discount (about $15,000 less than a full remount price for certain, lighter boxes), offering a lower-cost alternative to a new full build.
Commissioners discussed fleet age and spare capacity. An unnamed staff member said the oldest front-line truck had roughly 106,000 miles and several spares had higher mileage; staff said some older vehicles already had warranty-covered repairs and that the remounted vehicle would provide a spare when Station 2 moves to a 24-hour schedule.
On funding, the motion presented at the meeting proposed using a combination of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and “public safety swaps.” The meeting record includes spoken figures for prior pricing and the balance to be covered from swaps, but the transcript of that exchange is partially garbled; the transcript references a prior price of about $231,640 and a difference covered by swaps spoken as about $46,860. The meeting did not record a completed vote in the transcript extract provided.
No final contract signature or formal award was recorded in the provided transcript; staff recommended proceeding because of production timing and a perceived risk that new-build lead times could stretch to 18 months or longer.
The discussion distinguished remounts from full new builds and noted that vendors differ in whether they perform remounts or only new builds. Staff said the vendor quoted covers structural and conversion work under its five-year workmanship warranty for items it replaces or reworks.