Newcastle Fire Co. officers remained steadfast in their advocacy of a new, $300,000 plus rescue pumper to replace two aging trucks during a Jan. 26 meeting with Newcastle officials.
Newcastle Fire Chief Clayton Huntley and the Newcastle Fire Co. Truck Committee met with the Newcastle Finance Committee and Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier to discuss the Fire Co.’s proposal.
Those parties, as well as the Newcastle Board of Selectmen, have exchanged a series of letters since the Fire Co.’s initial recommendation to purchase the truck Jan. 4.
The rescue pumper would replace a 1979 Ford/FMC pumper and a 1982 GMC medium rescue. According to Huntley, the aging trucks are rapidly becoming a liability. The pumper was unable to assist at two structure fires in the last two years due to mechanical issues.
To fight a 2005 fire at the Newcastle Inn – just a tenth of a mile from the station – the Fire Co. brought in a reserve truck from Sheepscot, nearly five miles away, because the medium rescue was unavailable.
Huntley responded to questions about Fire Co. personnel and other data. “We have 25 active members right now,” he said. “Our average response time is eight minutes.”
Grenier and Glenn Paye, a member of the Finance Committee, pointed to purchases of used trucks by other Maine towns, including Edgecomb and Oxford, as proof of affordable options for replacement.
Huntley and the Truck Committee, however, continued their staunch opposition to purchasing a used truck.
“When you go in with an air pack and a hose, you know [a new] truck isn’t going to quit on you,” Tom Stevens, a former Chief and current Trustee and Truck Committee member said.
Newcastle residents “have to look at their budget” when replacing their vehicles, Grenier said. “I’m sure everybody would like to have brand new but sometimes they can’t afford it.”
Huntley, responding to questions about Damariscotta’s plans to purchase a similar truck, said Damariscotta Fire Chief Neil Genthner has applied for a grant to purchase a pumper-tanker. As in Newcastle, the hope is to replace two trucks with one. If no grant is forthcoming, however, Genthner doesn’t plan to purchase the truck, Huntley said.
Newcastle “definitely” considers the fleets of neighboring towns when planning changes to its own, Huntley said.
Huntley, too, is exploring grants. “We have a grant out there right now,” he said. “I could call Ron tomorrow and say, ‘We got it.'”
“We’re writing grants every year,” Stevens said. “What we receive is another thing.”
According to Huntley, Newcastle hosted a regional, $53,000 grant for a new radio system about three years ago.
Grenier, Huntley and the Truck Committee discussed the bid process, with Grenier maintaining the position that the Fire Co. must receive approval from the town in accordance with the Newcastle Purchasing and Bidding Ordinance.
If necessary, Huntley said, the Fire Co. will request bids on the credit of the Fire Co., a private non-profit, not the town.
The Fire Co. will not award a bid, Stevens said.
“We want to come in [to the annual town meeting] with good, solid information,” Huntley said. “We know the town has to be involved. We’re not trying to eliminate that.”
Huntley stressed the benefit of expediting the purchase of a truck. New fire trucks increase $10,000-$15,000 each year, he said.
The Truck Committee said the trucks to be replaced lack significant resale value, but if the trucks are sold (the pumper belongs to the town, the medium rescue to the Fire Co.) the Fire Co. will donate their share of the proceeds to help the town pay for the truck. “If we get $10,000, that’s $10,000 on the first year’s payment,” Huntley said.
“Thirty years from now, this [new] truck is still going to be in service,” Huntley said.
Huntley, in a Jan. 27 phone interview, addressed a question from selectmen that wasn’t raised at the meeting. According to the Jan. 18 letter from Grenier and the selectmen to Huntley and the Fire Co., the state, following the fall 2005 breach of the Sherman Lake dam, indicated that it “might be willing to fund” the purchase of equipment to help allay the loss of a “critical water source.”
According to Huntley, the state never made a firm offer and he has not communicated with the state about the matter since early 2008, when the selectmen at that time agreed to handle the issue.
