The Grantsville City Council committed to acquiring a new fire truck but details of when, and how much it will cost, won’t be figured out until at least the next fiscal year.
The Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department is looking to replace a 33-year-old fire engine in its fleet that can barely pump water even with a lengthy warm-up period.
City finance director Sherrie Broadbent said the city could either lease or purchase a new fire truck, but recommended a delay due to funds tied up in the $3.6 million justice center, which would house the city’s justice court and police department.
She also cited other upcoming projects or uncertainties such as the Donner Reed Museum restoration and sale of Utah Motorsports Campus.
“There’s so many unknowns now that it makes it hard to say I’ve got ‘x’ amount of funds available,” Broadbent said. “In a year, I’ll know a whole lot more.”
Broadbent recommended purchasing the fire engine, which would cost about $450,000 if purchased today, in a year after grants have been applied for and additional funds will be available.
The city has set aside $92,270 in a Utah Public Treasurers’ Investment Fund account for the fire department, Broadbent said, which allows investment of funds with a high degree of liquidity. By waiting about a year, Grantsville City could dip into its capital projects fund toward the purchase price.
If no grant money comes through, the city could consider purchasing a used truck in an effort to reduce costs.
Grantsville City could also lease the engine but Broadbent said the fixed yearly cost, which could range between $52,000 and $96,000, would need to come from the general fund budget. The lease may require the fire departments and other city departments to cut costs or raise taxes to offset the payment.
If the city could hold out for two years, they should have the funds available to purchase an engine outright, Broadbent said.
The fire department, including city councilman and Grantsville Fire Captain Neil Critchlow, said the need for the department is immediate.
Due to the inability of the engine to pump, the department currently has one working engine to respond to most calls, Critchlow said. Another one of the city’s fire apparatus, a ladder truck, is suffering from electrical issues that are affecting the transmission and can’t maneuver some of the narrow streets in the city.
Critchlow said the 33-year-old engine needs to be replaced to ensure there are enough apparatus on scene in case of a significant fire before mutual aid can arrive.
“We have a public service … expectation by the public,” he said. “When we show up to a fire, they expect us to be able to have the equipment and things to put the fire out.”
The fire department received bids and selected Rosenbauer, who offered up a demo truck at $425,000. The demo truck would be the same one shown to the Grantsville City Fire Department early in the year and all warranties would be set upon date of purchase, even though the truck came off the assembly line in fall 2015.
By waiting instead, Broadbent and Grantsville City Mayor Brent Marshall will include the fire truck in the next fiscal year budget process, so some details could be worked out by July 2017.
In his motion, Councilman Tom Tripp committed to the purchase of a fire truck but also required the fire department — and other departments at the mayor’s discretion — submit a five-year acquisition plan for equipment and schedule a consultation with the state fire marshal’s office to give benchmarks for the city’s volunteer fire department.
The motion was approved in a 4-1 vote, with Critchlow as the lone dissenting vote.