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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC RES 97-034 RESOLUTION APPROVING PROCESS FOR THE PURCHASE OF A NEW FIRE PUMPER Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIIIIIII 103240 Box: 26 Folder: RES 1997 Document: CC RES 97-034 RESOLUTION APPROVING PROCESS FOR THE PURCHASE OF A NEW FIRE PUMPER • CITY OF ST. ANTHONY RESOLUTION 97-034 A RESOLUTION APPROVING PROCESS FOR THE PURCHASE OF A NEW FIRE PUMPER WHEREAS, it has been determined that the St. Anthony Fire Department is in need of a new fire pumper; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the rationale, process, and schedule for purchase of the pumper submitted by the Fire Department. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of St. Anthony hereby gives approval for the St. Anthony Fire Department to proceed with the process toward the purchase of a new fire pumper as submitted by that Department. • Adopted this C1 L day of cTtt,y) 1997. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Reviewed for administration: al City M nager • NEW FIRE TRUCK RATIONALE PROCESS SCHEDULE • • J I would like to begin by answering some frequently-asked questions. • Why do we need 3 pumpers in a community as small as St. Anthony? The Insurance Services Office evaluates fire protection in a community and sets fire insurance premiums. They have discovered that fire has a poor sense of geometry and that a fire in the St. Anthony High School would require the same resources to extinguish as a high school fire in New York City. In evaluating St. Anthony, they have determined that we need a minimum of 3,000 GPM pumping capacity to protect key buildings in the City. This capacity requires 3 pumpers. We could probably get by with 2, but the resulting increase in insurance premiums throughout the city would exceed the cost of buying and maintaining the third pumper. Why is it necessary to replace a piece of equipment with only 21,000 miles on it? Most of a pumper's work is done while it's standing still and so engine hours are used to determine life expectancy and maintenance schedules. Interstate Diesel has supplied us with a formula to convert engine hours into miles driven and, using • this formula, all of our pumpers exceed 100,000 miles. Our newest pumper has an equivalent of 230,000 miles on it and is overdue for reserve status. Another factor is the fact that nearly every urban fire truck exceeds allowable vehicle load limits. The State allows us to do this and so we take advantage of it (the alternative would be to purchase more vehicles to carry the same amount of stuff). Consequently, the wear and tear on brakes, suspensions, and frames is greater than on regular commercial trucks. Why couldn't we purchase a smaller vehicle (i.e. a Suburban) to be used on non-fire activities? This would save wear and tear on our more expensive pumpers. This idea would work if we had the space to store an additional vehicle. We still require 3 pumpers and so the fire station would have to be expanded to accommodate the extra vehicle. Although this idea would give our pumpers a longer life expectancy, they still have to be replaced periodically and, with an additional vehicle being added to the replacement schedule, the savings would be minimal. Furthermore, the fire car is currently used to run many errands that • were previously done with a pumper. • Is refurbishing an option? Many fire departments are using refurbishing to extend the life of their fire trucks. However, Engine 21 is so old (over 25 years old) that it would take a major overhaul to bring it up to safety and performance standards. The cost of this overhaul would be about 75% the cost of a new vehicle. How wise was the purchase of the step-van in 1991? When we purchased our step-van, other fire departments were acquiring modular units to serve essentially the same purposes. These units cost 2 - 3 times more than a step-van and are less versatile. The value of this utility truck is such that it is the second unit out of the fire station on all fire calls and is often requested by our neighbors because of the wide range of support activities it provides on the fire ground. Today many area fire departments are selling their modular units and purchasing step-vans (Brooklyn Center currently has 2 in their inventory) after investigating the success of the St. Anthony unit. • RATIONALE Engine 21 is now 25 years old with 110,000 equivalent road miles, Engine 12 is 22 years old with 180,000 equivalent road miles, and Engine 11 is 12 years old with 230,000 equivalent road miles. Our hope is to replace Engine I 1 as a first- out unit and relegate it to reserve status before it becomes junk. When we do purchase a new pumper, Engine 21 will be taken out of service and either sold or kept as a parade rig. We could probably get about $10,000 for this vehicle but, with its open cab, this truck is ideal for use in parades (homecoming and Villagefest) and for the various fundraising acivities which we support. As you can see, delaying a decision to purchase a new truck will probably mean that all 3 trucks will have to be replaced during a relatively short span of time. I give Engine 12 about 5 - 10 more years of useful life and Engine 11 about the same. Refurbishing could stagger the replacement schedule somewhat. PROCESS New fire pumpers are currently-selling for $240,000 - $300,000. 1 plan to get a perfectly good pumper for about $225,000 by modifying the usual process. Traditionally, fire departments have defined their apparatus in terms of manufacturers' specs and, as a result, have received one or, at most, two bids. We will define our pumper in terms of performance specs, which means a number of apparatus manufacturers will be able to compete for the bid. Another cost reducer is using a commercial chassis instead of a custom chassis. This will not only reduce the cost, it will make future maintenance easier. If a new pumper is approved, I intend to form an apparatus committee involving a number of fire department personnel. This committee will be broken down into sub-groups, each one specializing in a component of the fire truck. I would expect our new pumper to look and perform much as our present ones do. Whether it's yellow or red is up to the committee. • • SCHEDULE Timing can be everything. If the purchase of a new truck is approved, I plan to have the specs written up by the end of July and the bids let out at that time. Awarding the bid will probably come in late September or early October. I am shooting for a delivery date sometime during the summer of 1998. By giving the maufacturer 8 or 9 months to manufacture the truck, I will probably- lower the bid even further. • •