Council OKs village tractor

Goodrich-By a 5-0 vote on Monday night the village council OK’d the purchase of a new tractor.
The 2013 John Deere tractor will cost the village about $93,000.
‘We received about $31,000 for the sale of the seven parcels in the Fairview Hills subdivision in March,? said Rick Horton, village council president. ‘In addition we’ll ask $15,000 for the old tractor. It’s just good business to keep our equipment up-to-date and in good working order. The old tractor could be facing some high priced repairs, but it served the community well.?
The four cylinder diesel tractor with backhoe and front bucket is used by the village DPW for loading road salt in the winter, moving snow from the downtown area and other jobs in the village.
The new tractor was acquired through MiDeal, an extended purchasing program which allows Michigan cities, townships, villages, counties, school districts, universities, community colleges and non-profit hospitals to use state contracts to buy goods and services. There are more than 280 contracts available to local governments, like the village.
The cost before the MiDeal was estimated at about $150,000 for the tractor.