LISBON — Lisbon Village Council gave the go-ahead Tuesday for the purchase of a barely used 2023 Smeal Spartan Rescue Pumper fire truck for the village fire department for $500,000.

“We’re pretty excited,” Lisbon Fire Chief Mark Hall said.

A new pumper would cost at least $950,000 or more, he said, and this truck was purchased new and traded back in by another fire department that decided an aerial ladder truck was needed instead of a pumper.

According to Hall, he and Councilman Jerry Cox had been looking for a newer fire truck and Cox found this one.

“He did a lot of work on this and I’m very happy with the work he did. It’s really a good deal,” Hall said.

The truck was brought to Lisbon from Indiana and checked out by the department’s mechanic and everything was good. Now it just needs to be lettered and labeled. He said the truck won’t be in service for at least another month.

The pumper has more safety features, better suspension, all LED lighting and lots of extra options. According to the specs before it was purchased, it had 2,488 miles on it and 191 engine hours. Hall said there’s a lot of features he likes, such as the deck gun.

Plus, it fits in the fire house.

“It’s a very, very nice truck,” Hall said, adding the firefighters are all excited.

The newer pumper will replace Engine 151, which is a 2006 Hoyne. He said the 20-year-old pumper has done its duty, but it’s starting to cost some money. The department has put some money into it and will put it up for sale.

During the council meeting, Cox said a few items were missing from the truck that will cost about $2,416 to replace, including new headsets, brass caps for the outlets and a power wench, which he said the company should reimburse the village for the cost. There also will be a cost for lettering it. The truck is being purchased from Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus with levy funds. The company is headquartered in Alabama.

In other business, council voted 5-1 against live-streaming the council meetings, with Councilwoman Susan Temple the only one in support of Mayor Peter Wilson’s suggestion to have the meetings live-streamed so residents who can’t attend can watch.

During the last meeting, Wilson said he received a quote from Weber Technology for $111.51 to purchase the equipment needed and then a fee of $30 per meeting. Wilson said the meetings could be live-streamed on Facebook Live and placed on YouTube. He also said he placed the information on social media and there appeared to be interest from residents wanting a live broadcast.

“I think this is definitely something we need to pursue,” he said.

Council President Melissa Hiner said she looked on social media and didn’t think there was a ton of comments. She also looked into what other communities do and said Columbiana uses Zoom with attendees admitted through a link. They don’t do Facebook Live. Salem has a separate room and a person who handles the broadcast on cable and then there’s access through the city government website. She questioned the costs and legal considerations related to the broadcast.

“Councilman Hiner, why are you so opposed to this?” Wilson asked.

She said council hasn’t even voted on this, on whether to even pursue it. She moved not to live-stream, saying there’s a lot more involved and it will cost the village money.

“I don’t think that’s something that’s necessary for Lisbon,” she said.

A question was also raised about having to keep the records and what if there are requests for the recordings, who would handle those? She said it’s not a simple process.

After the vote, Wilson commented, “I don’t understand it.”