A new pump on one of the Emporia Fire Department’s pumper fire trucks would cost an estimated $250,000. A new truck to replace the 1982 model would cost $450,000.
With those options, both the city commission and Fire Chief Jack Taylor were in agreement that the chance to buy a 1997 Pierce Dash fire truck for an $89,000 list price was too good to turn down.
“We need this truck, absolutely,” Taylor told the commission at an action meeting preceding Wednesday’s city work session.
Commissioners agreed, voting 4-0 to purchase the former City of Leawood fire truck from Conrad Fire Equipment for an amount not exceeding $101,000. The extra amount over $89,000 includes the estimated cost of refurbishments.
Commissioner Jim Kessler asked Taylor to explain why the fire department needed the truck. Taylor told the commission that the standards of the Insurance Service Office and the National Fire Protection Agency dictate that a fire department have a certain gallons-per-pump capacity in the community. The city has one fully functional pumper truck and one quintuple combination pumper, or quint, that doubles as a pumper and aerial device; Taylor said Emporia needs one pumper on each side of town, a reserve truck and an aerial device.
“So, what our intent would be with this truck,” Taylor said, “would be to put the truck that we’re looking to buy out at Station 2, and bring the quint back to Station 1, so that the first-out truck from each station would be our regular pumper, just like we have at Station 1. And the quint would then become the backup and the ladder truck for structure-type fires.”
The used addition to the fire fleet is expected to last for at least 10 years; an all-new $450,000 truck would typically last about 20 years, Taylor said.
Commissioner Julie Johnson was absent from Wednesday’s session.
Also Wednesday, the commission:
• Performed its latest review of the city’s dwindling health insurance fund and decided to transfer $400,000 from other funds to cover the fund for 2008. Larry Bucklinger, the city’s director of administrative services, estimated that without funds transfers, the city’s insurance plan would exhaust its assets before Sept. 15. That estimate factored in increased premiums resulting from right-pricing of premiums, which will begin with the city’s Aug. 1 payroll.
• Examined the revised capital improvement plan, which now includes some projects ranked at a higher priority. Last week, the commission asked that infrastructure projects be ranked higher on the 2009 CIP. The highest-ranked of the re-ranked projects was the resurfacing of U.S. Highway 50 between Industrial Road and Prairie Street, which moved from 10th place up to 6th on the ’09 CIP. Commissioners reached a consensus that the updated CIP would be the one used to help formulate the 2009 budget.
• Looked at calculations from city staff on how fuel surcharges would affect the solid waste fund. Commissioners reached a consensus to use a fuel surcharge based on an a diesel fuel price of $4.25 per gallon, with quarterly reevaluations of the price of diesel. The surcharge would not be added if diesel prices eventually fell below $3.50 per gallon.
rdgrey (anonymous) says...
Good job of shopping around and finding the right deal.
July 31, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthefacts (anonymous) says...
Kind of sad that Emporia is so broke that it has to buy equipment from other cities because it can't afford to invest in the future. I think I'll go add a few more smoke detectors and buy a couple more fire extinguishers for my house! Get ready for your insurance rates to go up when the insurance companies find out the city can't adequately staff and fund their police and fire departments.
July 31, 2008 at 8:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawker (anonymous) says...
justthefacts, there you go again. Did you read the article? The chief said that the acquisition of this pumper would put us in good stead with the national standards. Additonally, this truck cost $101,000.00 with an estimated life of 10 years, whereas a new truck would cost $450,000.00 and last 20 years. If you do the math, the used truck would cost us $10,100.00 per year in depreciation, but the new truck would cost us $22,500.00 per year in depreciation. Good lord, man, this is just good business and the kind of decision that our commission should make regularly. For once, they are good stewards of our money.
August 1, 2008 at 2:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
i'm with justthefacts on this one....it's kind of like holding our collective hats out to the rest of kansas saying "please give me your spare fire trucks and police cars, our commission isn't smart enough to figure out how to build roundabouts and buy new equipment".
August 1, 2008 at 6:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Emporiafan (anonymous) says...
funny that people want the city to buy new fire trucks for three times as much but don't you dare raise taxes to help us buy new! And don't forget to go to the garage sale to buy office furniture that we actually use daily......hmmmmm Good job fire department for finding a way to save the taxpayers money!
August 1, 2008 at 7:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alfalfa (anonymous) says...
There is nothing wrong with a used fire truck, those of us who VOLUNTEER to fight fire in the surrounding small towns would kill to have a truck like the one purchased. Emporiafan hits the nail on the head, taxpayers always want the best of everything, but do not want to pay taxes.
I put volunteer in caps to underscore a point, you have professional firemen, that is a huge cost. That truck will have been pump tested, and probably has very few miles and hours on it, it isn't like a personal vehicle, it doesn't run every day.
I am not in favor of higher taxes, but having held elected office for the last 18 years in one of the "suburbs" of Emporia, it never ceases to amaze me how taxpayers never can draw the connection between taxes and all the things they want, they want everything to be perfect, but by God don't raise my taxes.
August 1, 2008 at 8:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
notasheeple (anonymous) says...
I would like to know why it is necessary in ‘09 to repave between Industrial Road and Prairie St. on U.S. HW 50?
And to the water department? at 9th and Arundel st, the fire hydrant on that corner looks like there could be a leak, you have to go in the morning.
Once the sun gets out everything dries up.
I have been by twice in the mornings and there had been water in that area,went back by in the afternoons and nothing.
Maybe some one that lives in that area could look?
August 1, 2008 at 5:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthefacts (anonymous) says...
Yep there I go again. Cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap! I read in the paper today that the Lawrence fire department went out on a fire call today and their ladder truck which was 10 years old (same ages as the one we just bought) wouldn't work. The chief had been warning the commission for several years but they wouldn't listen. The city manager would not include it in the budget until the commissioners agreed to find a revenue source. Any of this sound familiar?
Good Lord man, if you talk to the chief he will tell you he never had to resort to purchasing a used fire truck before. The alternative was to do nothing because the commission would not buy a new one, nor did they want to fix the existing one. What options are left. It is not a good deal. It is an act of desperation. When someone dies, I hope you all sleep well in your beds. Cheap Cheap Cheap
I suggest you stop trying to devalue others opinions with ridicule and insult. The harder some of us get pushed, the harder we will push back. It's time to take this town back from the short sighted tightwads who feel they have a holy mission from God to save us all from ourselves.
August 1, 2008 at 10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )