Town orders new fire engine

#Middlebury #MVFD #Engine1

MVFD’s current Engine 1 sits outside fire headquarters on Tucker Hill Road. A replacement for the 1991 American LaFrance Company engine has been ordered. (MVFD photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

At the July 18 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John presented a timeline leading up to the town’s signing on May 16, 2022, of a lease purchase agreement for a $1.2 million replacement for the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department’s Engine 1, a pumper/tanker. The delivery date for the new vehicle is 680 days out from then, so the vehicle will arrive sometime in 2024.

The new vehicle will come from Pierce Manufacturing of Appleton, Wisconsin, and will be financed through PNC Equipment Finance. The lease/purchase agreement is for 10 years at an interest rate of 3.25%, but St. John said there is no penalty for prepayment after two years, so when lease payments have brought the balance down to what St. John described as a manageable amount, the balance will be paid off.

St. John said the new vehicle will hold 2,500 gallons of water and 100 gallons of foam compared to the 1,800 gallons of water and 100 gallons of foam the current vehicle carries. Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) Chief Brett Kales said the new vehicle will have safety features like seat belts with shoulder restraints. He said the current vehicle has only lap restraints. It also will have a camera system that allows the driver to see all around the vehicle. The lights on the vehicle will be LED lights, and the vehicle will be able to discharge water into a holding pool (used on locations without hydrants) from three locations, the rear and each side. The current vehicle can only discharge water from the rear.

St. John said the need for new engine became apparent in February 2020, when Engine 1’s diesel engine failed while it was responding to a vehicle fire on I-84. Engine 1 had to be towed to Hartford for repairs. Four options for the situation were presented, but only one was feasible – rebuilding the engine at a cost of $56,000. That was done, and Engine 1 returned to service in May 2020.

In June 2020, St. John instructed the fire department to develop a specification for a new pumper/tanker. On February 27, 2022, the formal legal notice was published in the Waterbury Republican-American, and an advertisement went out. Bids were due April 29, 2022. On that date, the town had one bid, from Pierce Manufacturing.

St. John said voters’ approval of Question 3 at the May 4 referendum paved the way for the selectmen on May 16 to approve a resolution for the town to enter into a lease purchase agreement with PNC Equipment Finance. The resolution was signed and certified by the town clerk the same day.

St. John reported that lease/purchase agreement and a letter from town attorney Bob Smith stating the agreement conformed to the requirements of the town charter were then submitted to Pierce Manufacturing. The newspaper has requested but not yet received a copy of the lease/purchase agreement and the town attorney’s letter.

Now St. John said, we just have to hope the current Engine 1 doesn’t fail before its replacement arrives. “It has to last two more years because its replacement won’t get here until then,” he said.