LINESVILLE - Money must not be hard to come by for Linesville Borough Council who seems to be on a spending spree of late.

After some months of discussion, council, who instructed Chief of Police George Davis to get price quotes on a new SUV police vehicle in August, learned at one of their September meetings that the vehicle/cruiser is to be here in 6 to 8 weeks.

Minutes do not yet reflect what the vehicle is costing, or if the purchase is being made off the state’s bid list, although there has been talk at meetings of a cost around $25,000.

Council has been setting some money aside in recent budgets towards a purchase, but just how much is unclear at this point after a review of August and September meeting minutes.

Is the borough buying the vehicle outright, leasing it, or using the money set aside and getting a loan to cover the rest of the cost, is not clear by the minutes.

Additionally council is involved in the purchase of land - the old Fireman’s Park area, off North Water Street, beyond the bank.

A subdivision has been approved on the former Lockhart property, with council asking the Linesville Municipal Authority to use $15,000 from the Joint Municipal Authority account to purchase the land. Council is to pay half of the closing costs.

Plans are to build a garage to house borough vehicles in at that location.

A related problem is securing a right-of-way to the property but an approval has not been obtained from the property owner. Council has asked their lawyer to look into Eminent Domain to obtain a driveway.

Council had put out bids to build a 2-car garage at the old mini mart building, but run afoul of regulations for need of blue prints, and need for handicapped bathroom, among concerns. They are now looking at plans to build a 22’x18’ addition to the building for police car parking and storage.

Council has passed a motion to spend $1,000 on materials for remodeling the old mini mart inside.