NORWAY — The Norway Police Department might get its first new vehicle in nearly three years after the council voted 2-1 Wednesday to acquire an SUV from Town & County Sales in Quinnesec.

The quoted base price is $52,684. In addition, equipment and decals will cost $16,882.

After the vote, it was agreed that if Town & Country cannot supply the vehicle in a timely fashion, the purchase will be brought back before the council.

In the past, the city had received USDA Rural Development grants to cover about 60% of police vehicle purchases. Despite being approved to receive the grants the past two years, the funds didn’t come through.

At its Jan. 8 meeting, council members had discussed the merits of purchasing a pickup truck versus a less-expensive SUV. At that meeting, council members leaned toward purchasing the SUV and saving the pickup purchase until grant funding came through.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Muraro still favored buying a pickup truck so that when the pickup reached its end of life at the police department, it could be transferred to the street department.

“In the past we had to go out and spend quite a bit of money to get some trucks (for the street department),” Muraro said. “Then we came up with this great idea about getting trucks in the police department that can then be transferred out at their end of life to other departments in the city.”

Asked for his preference, Norway Chief of Police Patrick Wilkey said he had none as long as they got a new vehicle.

Where to purchase the vehicle was also debated.

LaFontaine Ford of Lansing had quoted a base price for the SUV of $46,172 for a Ford Explorer. The purchase would be through MiDeal, the state’s extended purchasing program.

At the Jan. 8 meeting, council members wanted local dealers to have the opportunity to bid. Town & Country Sales was the only area dealer that could supply a police interceptor and quoted the base price of $52,684.

Council Member Bret Kraemer made a motion to purchase the SUV from Town & Country Sales. Council Member Ricarda Steigerwald would second the motion, but she did not vote to approve it.

The motion passed with two in favor and one opposed. Mayor Candy Brew and Council Member Rico Meneghini were both absent.

In other business, the council:

— Agreed to spend $3,000 on the design of the Knights’ Kingdom playground replacement. Play By Design will engage community members, including children, to see what they would like to see in the playground. Play By Design consists of former members of Playgrounds by Leathers, the company that designed and built the original Knights’ Kingdom.

— Learned that a final agreement may soon be brought before the council on selling the city’s cable system to Spectrum. Discussions have been in the works for some time, with a public hearing in June 2022 and a request for proposals in spring 2023 that initially had a few interested parties but now only Spectrum remains.

The city signed a letter of intent with Spectrum in December 2023 on an offer of $5 million. While final approval may come up before the council in the next couple of meetings, Muraro asked City Manager Dan Stoltman to put the item on the agenda, for discussion only, one more time to give the public another chance to comment.

— Approved a schedule for budget workshops. The council will meet every Monday in March and April, then have a public hearing on the budget at the May 5 regular council meeting, with approval coming May 19.