By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—The city of Paris’ 1927 LaFrance fire engine is another step closer to coming home.
At the request of Henry Co. Historical Society President David Webb, the Paris City Commission approved funding $5,000 toward the project which began last month.
At Thursday night’s meeting, Webb formally requested that the city of Paris join with Henry Co. to jointly contribute to an ongoing project that will return the 1927 Paris Fire Engine to Paris and restore it.
As WENK/WTPR previously reported, the Historical Society located the old fire engine in Oregon and has begun a project to transport it back to Paris, where it will be restored and displayed. The engine is a 1927 American LaFrance which is in relatively good shape and has been donated to Paris by the Tualtine Valley Fire and Rescue of Tigard, Oregon.
Webb, who also serves as a county commissioner and is the Henry Co. Historian, said time is of the essence, noting the Historical Society wants to get the vehicle ready for parades and other community events. “If funding can be secured fairly quickly,” he said, “it is possible for the engine to be ready by the World’s Biggest Fish Fry parade in April.”
A fund-raising effort has begun and the estimated cost for transportation and restoration is $31,000.
The Historical Society does not have the funds to provide the entire funding and has began a gofundme campaign and will begin mass mailouts to county residents. Webb said perhaps first responders in the county could initiate fundraisers for the project, too.
“It has taken and will continue to take a community effort to get this accomplished,” Webb said.
Webb presented a break-down of other requests for funding:
$10,000 City of Paris
$10,000 County of Henry
$2,000 BPU Roundup (application received)
$1,000 Henry County Helping Hand (application received)
$13-18,000 Henry County Historical Society, plus maintaining insurance, fuel, cleaning, and regular maintenance, public fund-raising
Estimated costs include gold leaf lettering, striping and scrolls, tilt trailer for transportation, painting, and general transportation costs.
In other business:
–Commission tabled a resolution which would have revised the city parking ordinance’s provision for courtesy tickets. The way it is currently written allows for anyone with an out of county license plate to receive a courtesy ticket for parking longer than two hours in one of the downtown on-street parking places.
The resolution had been discussed at length over two meetings and members disagreed on whether or not to continue allowing courtesy tickets. The proposal will be discussed again at a future meeting.
Gerrell said, “There are three or four things are always hot button topics and this is one of them. When I first heard this resolution, I thought it made sense but I don’t know if it does anymore”.
Jones said, “The intent of this ordinance was to be fair and I think we need a broader picture of this and need to think about it some more.”
Commissioner Terry Fuller said he was opposed to courtesy tickets and that the two-hour parking limit should be enforced.
City Attorney Fred McLean noted there are several free municipal parking lots around the city “but not everybody is on board with this.”
–Commissioners approved the low bid for Phase II of the BPU Water Treatment Plant. The low bid, from W & O Construction Co., already was accepted by the BPU.
BPU General Manager Terry Wimberley noted, “It’s time to build a water plant. And I’m proud that we are at this point.”
The commission designated Wimberley as the authorized signatory on construction documents.
–City Maintenance Supervisor Phillip Jessie reported on preparations for winter weather in the city.
Photo: David Webb makes presentation on the return and restoration of the city’s former fire engine to the city commission. (Shannon McFarlin photo).
