The Southeast Volunteer Fire Department will be getting a new fire truck.

The fire truck purchase from Deep South Fire Trucks was approved in April by the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors, said Danny Manley, Emergency Management Director. It will cost $288,750.

The fire department sold an old tanker and an old pumper to the North Central Volunteer Fire Department, and is replacing those two vehicles with a vehicle that is both a tanker and pumper, Manley said.

At their meeting Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors accepted the lowest quote for a bank loan of $155,000 for the purchase of the truck. The loan will be paid back in less than 10 years primarily using insurance rebate funds, said Manley.

The department will also use $35,000 from the general tax levy account, $28,750 from insurance rebate funds and expects to receive a $70,000 grant from the Mississippi rural fire truck acquisition grant fund program, to purchase the truck.

The truck is estimated to be ready for delivery in November, said Manley.

In a separate matter, the Board heard a presentation about the Pearl River County Hospital from certified management consultant G. Edward Tucker during executive session, said County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin.

The Board hired Tucker to look into how the hospital is doing financially, how it is functioning and how it can be improved, Lumpkin said.

In a separate matter, the Board approved an interlocal agreement with the city of Poplarville that allows the county to enforce the city’s floodplain management ordinance. The city does not have a flood plain administrator, so instead of spending the money to hire one, the city will reimburse the county for any work the county’s floodplain manager does for Poplarville.

Floodplain administration requires a specialized skillset and only a few acres in Poplarville are in a floodplain, said the city’s code enforcement officer Kolby Davis at the Poplarville Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday.