The city council decided to take a loan from Pottsville Area Development Corp.'s revolving loan fund Monday to buy two 2013-model police cars.
"They're two, brand-new, 2013 Ford interceptors," said city police Capt. Steve Durkin, who was at the council's regular March meeting Monday night at City Hall.
The city was able to acquire the vehicles through the "state piggyback" program through the state Department of General Services, Durkin said.
Officially called "COSTARS," it's Pennsylvania's cooperative purchasing program administered by the state Department of General Services Bureau of Procurement, according to its website at portal.state.pa.us.
"It's a state contract and they allow local departments to get in on it. And PADCO has a leasing agreement and the financial number to be able to lease them to the city," Durkin said.
Formed in 1985, PADCO is a nonprofit development corporation that oversees revitalization of the city's central business district. It manages a revolving-loan fund. With an emphasis on job creation, its low-interest loans help fund business expansion, equipment, start-up costs, physical renovations and other business needs, according to Amy S. Burkhart, PADCO executive director.
"The rate is 2.99 percent," Burkhart said Monday night.
The city will not have to make any payments for a year, said Thomas A. Palamar, city administrator.
According to the contract the council approved Monday night, 36 months of monthly payments of $1,996.57 each will begin in March 2014, totaling $71,876.52.
The Pottsville police, a squad of 23 full-time officers, have five marked vehicles and three unmarked vehicles, Durkin said.
"These new vehicles will take the place of two of the ones we've been using that are, pretty much, shot. We'll probably sell them but won't get very much for them. They each have over 120,000 miles on them," Durkin said.
In another matter related to PADCO, the city council renewed a contract, once again hiring the development group to manage Union Station, the city-owned bus terminal and office complex at 300 S. Centre St.
The city opened Union Station on June 10, 2011.
With a resolution the City of Pottsville approved Jan. 9, 2012, the city hired PADCO to manage Union Station at a rate of $12,000 a year, paid in monthly installments of $1,000.
As of March 2013, the building houses STS and a Pottsville police substation on the third floor; the Schuylkill Economic Development Corp. and the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce on the second floor, and the Schuylkill County Visitors Bureau and QEI Construction, Wyomissing, Berks County, on the ground floor.
Palamar said the resolution to rehire PADCO approved Monday contains the same rate of $12,000 per year and it will be retroactive to January.
In other matters at council's March meeting, the council approved a resolution recommended by its property insurance provider, PennPRIME Insurance Trust, Harrisburg, imposing "loss control standards" on city properties. This will involve uniform monthly inspections of City Hall and the city garage, and the JFK Recreation Complex when it's in use.