Amazon Is Buying Hamilton Township a $2.5M Fire Truck

When it comes to who will pay for the new fire truck Hamilton Township needs, it's nice to have rich friends.

The Hamilton Township Committee approved buying a new fire truck for $2.5 million on Monday night.

Amazon is paying for the fire truck.

If you're like me, I know what the first thing you thought was when you heard that Amazon was picking up the cost of the fire truck.

It was that they want the truck to protect the 1.2 million-square-foot robotic sortable fulfillment center they plan to build on a large parcel of the shuttered Atlantic City Race Course property in Mays Landing.

As The Press of Atlantic City reports from Monday night's Committee meeting, that's what township officials thought we would be thinking.

Hamilton Twp Approves $2.5M Fire Truck Purchased by Amazon

During Monday night's voting, The Press of Atlantic City reported that Committee woman Thelma Witherspoon wanted it noted that this is not the case.

"I'm fine with this, but I just wanted for the record to state that the fire truck wasn't just for Amazon. Although they were helping with the purchase, it wasn't just for them. It was for the entire township. But if the community knows it's for the entire township, that makes a difference.

 

Amazon did strike a 29-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) deal with Hamilton Township.

The PILOT agreement will generate more than $2.4 million a year for the township, 5% of which will go to Atlantic County, according to The Press of Atlantic City report.

The Latest on Amazon's Fulfillment Center

Speaking of Amazon's fulfillment center, township officials say they are waiting for approvals to start building at the old race course.

That could be a complicated process, with approvals needed from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the NJ Pinelands Commission, and Atlantic County.