Guyton’s plans to buy a new fire truck for its fire department are on hold.

Chief David Starling told city council members the USDA grant he thought was a full grant turned out to be a 50-50 matching grant after he and Capt. Kenny McDonald had filled out the paperwork and taken it to Statesboro. Guyton was hoping for a $50,000 grant.

They discovered the city would have five years to pay the $25,000 back.

“I’m stretched on my budget,” Starling said. “I don’t know if I could afford to pay that $25,000 back in five years.”

Guyton’s two existing fire trucks date back to 1976 and 1980. The truck the city had in mind would be newer.

“They’re getting old enough now it costs me money,” Starling said. “Every time we drive it, it costs $200-$300 to fix it. Old trucks are not worth that much. We drove that truck and had to put it in the shop.”

Starling said the truck may suffer from not being driven enough but he doesn’t have the personnel to drive it three or four times a week.

Interim city manager Randy Alexander said the city had looked at a truck from Iowa that would cost $20,000. He added there’s no guarantee the older truck would receive a bid if the city opted to make it a surplus item.

Alexander, the city’s police chief, also discussed the speed limits in some parts of town where speeding has become excessive — Magnolia Avenue and Highway 17.

“I can’t tell you how many citations we’ve given out on Magnolia,” he said.

The speed limit on that street is 25 mph. But Guyton officers have clocked drivers going as much as 48 mph.

“Most of them were Guyton citizens,” Alexander said.

Starting last Saturday, the city is no longer giving warnings on speeding on Magnolia, according to Alexander.

“Twenty miles per hour over the limit is a little much,” he said.

The majority of the speeding on Highway 17 is being by truck drivers, he said.