County Lends Hazmat Team $40,000 for 1996 Truck to Replace Two Trailers

Article Summary: The Montgomery County Board agreed Tuesday to lend the county’s hazardous materials response team $40,000 to buy a used 1996 truck with 30,000 miles, structured as a $10,000 down payment from Coal Fund 375 now and $30,000 budgeted from the same fund in fiscal 2027, with the full amount to be repaid by Dec. 31, 2030.

HAZMAT Vehicle Key Points:

EMA Assistant Joe Gasparich presented the request for a $40,000 four-year loan.

The truck would replace both of the team’s Hazmat trailers.

The board approved $10,000 from Fund 375 as a down payment and directed that the remaining $30,000 be budgeted from the fund in fiscal 2027.

A separate unanimous vote approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Montgomery County Hazmat Team.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Montgomery County Board on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, approved a $40,000 loan arrangement allowing the county’s hazardous materials response team to buy a used truck, closing out a request that had been discussed and counter-offered at the committee level.

EMA Assistant Joe Gasparich presented the request for a $40,000 four-year loan from the county to purchase a used 1996 truck with 30,000 miles that would replace both of the team’s Hazmat trailers. Gasparich described the condition of the vehicle and the need for it, according to the minutes, which do not record the details of that description.

The Finance & Budget Committee had recommended that the Hazmat team acquire the truck with a $10,000 down payment, with the remaining $30,000 budgeted from Coal Fund 375 in fiscal 2027.

On a motion by Committee Chairwoman Connie Beck, seconded by Chris Daniels, the board voted unanimously to approve $10,000 from Fund 375 for a down payment on the truck and to budget for the remaining $30,000 in fiscal 2027, “with the entire $40,000 to be repaid by Dec. 31, 2030.”

Beck then moved, with a second from Evan Young, to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with the Montgomery County Hazmat Team. That motion also carried unanimously. A copy of the memorandum was filed in Resolution Book 24, page 27.

The arrangement is unusual for the county in that it is structured as a loan rather than a purchase: the money comes out of the coal royalty fund in two installments, and the Hazmat team is on the hook to return all $40,000 within roughly four and a half years of the first payment.

The minutes do not say who will hold title to the truck during the repayment period or after it, what the truck’s purchase price is relative to the $40,000 loan, or what will become of the two Hazmat trailers it replaces. Nor do they record the terms of the memorandum, which is available in the resolution book but was not summarized on the floor.

Fund 375 has faced a growing number of claims in recent weeks. In addition to the $10,000 Hazmat down payment, the board on Tuesday approved $16,838 for the Historic Courthouse boiler and $11,955 for a replacement Animal Control incinerator from the fund, along with $197,749.77 in vouchers. County staff have also signaled a planned fiscal 2027 request of $40,000 from the fund for two portable changeable message signs, and the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation has raised the possibility of moving the county’s contribution to it out of the General Fund and into Fund 375.