City Council Balks at Price of New Fire Engine

In contrast to the previous meeting, the July 28 City Council session ran nearly on time, in part because the agenda was lighter and there were no public comments. However, one significant portion of the evening clearly showed how cautiously the Council approaches spending money, even on necessities. This was centered around a request by Chief Brad Walters of the Rescue Fire Company (RFC) for a new engine.

Walters asked for the purchase of apparatus replacement for the oldest engine company in the fleet, which is 33 years old. Projected cost: $1.38 million. He said that they have regularly used Pierce Manufacturing for RFC’s equipment but that there are a number of other manufacturers available. (He later added that Pierce is ideal because their pricing is better and they have a service center in Salisbury.)

“But you get what you pay for,” he said, explaining that a fire company could go to the “low end” and get five to six years from the apparatus or go to the “high end” and get decades from it, as they have from the engine under discussion. He admitted that there are costs associated with keeping the equipment going so long: over the past three years, the oldest engine has required spending $150,000 for repairs with another $20,000 projected.

Walters warned that the price of new engines will continue to climb while the Council waits to approve the purchase. The last one bought for RFC, in 2015, cost $575,000. So, he recommended securing a Fiscal Year 2026 contract to lock in current pricing. If the city were to prepay 100 percent now, it would save $184,000. Or payment could be deferred until the apparatus arrives in three years.

The chief cited the company’s aging equipment and rising maintenance costs before saying, “It’s gonna get worse until we do something.”

Following Walters’ remarks, Ward 1 Commissioner Brett Summers asked City Manager Glenn Steckman and Finance Director Perry Peregoy for suggestions on how to pay for the new apparatus. Steckman stated bluntly that the city isn’t in a position to front $1.25 million. He mentioned a request that is in to U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and Representative Andy Harris for funding, which has yet to be answered.

Then the city manager asked the Council a question of his own: Do you want to support a volunteer fire company? “[New equipment] helps them, they believe, in their recruitment and retention of membership. If we had to pay for a full-time fire department, it would cost us millions.”

When Peregoy put in that there may be some financing options, Ward 5 Commissioner Brian Roche reminded the Council of the millions needed for HVAC repairs and failing sewer maintenance.

Summers said he was surprised to see the apparatus request on the evening’s agenda, as he’d thought the city’s $13 million in American Rescue Plan Act money from the COVID era had taken care of such capital improvements.

“We didn’t recklessly spend the money,” quickly replied Council President Sputty Cephas, who was on the Council during the epidemic.

Walters said he wasn’t expecting a vote on the request that night, but he hoped for a decision soon, as the price for the apparatus would increase $8,400 on August 1.

Ward 2 Commissioner Shay Lewis-Cisco stated her belief that the equipment was needed, and she referenced the uptick in incidents RFC has had to respond to. But she did want to know from Walters what benefit there would be in the Council’s decision now, besides saving on maintenance costs. He replied that, even if RFC was a paid organization, they would still need four engine companies for rotation during maintenance periods. Additionally, they wouldn’t be forced to build new parts for the outdated 1992 engine if they knew a new one was coming.

Summers asked why Dorchester County doesn’t provide more funding for the fire department, and Walters answered that the county carries coverage for workers’ compensation. Plus, most of the service calls for RFC are in Cambridge, and companies from other communities in Dorchester help them at times.

After receiving assurance from Walters that RFC doesn’t need “bells and whistles” for their engines, Mayor Lajan Cephas asked Steckman if action was needed immediately. The city manager reminded her that approval that night would save $8,400 on the purchase. He added that they would then have 30 days to decide how to pay, an answer for which he and his staff couldn’t give right away.

Summers made a motion for a committee — to include Steckman, Peregoy, the mayor, Walters, and two commissioners — for formulating a plan, which would then be returned to the Council. “I mean, this is a big acquisition. I think there needs to be some discussion and some meeting and really thinking through this.” Roche seconded the motion.

At that point, Steckman appeared to get frustrated. He said that financing the purchase wasn’t an issue for that night, and he added, “I don’t know how the group can get together and figure out how to save.”

Lewis-Cisco then said that “we’d be getting into the weeds” with Summers’ proposed committee, though she agreed a plan was needed.

Stating his fear that purchasing the engine could be followed by “something crazy” happening that would require money they couldn’t then get, Sputty Cephas asked, “Do we bankrupt the city?” He felt that more discussion was needed. The Council didn’t want to compromise citizens’ lives, he was quick to state, but he believed they had a responsibility to safeguard the city’s money.

When called on for his comments, Roche proposed that the city staff present a comprehensive report on how to pay for the engine. Then he asked why this request wasn’t included in their discussions about the annual budget that had just been passed. Steckman started to reply, but Roche said, “You don’t need to answer. It’s a rhetorical question.”

Walters did have an answer, however. The request for the new engine hadn’t just been “sprung on” the Council. The chief had pushed the need “many, many times.” In fact, it had been Number 1 on his capital improvement plan for three years.

Summers then amended his motion, based on Roche’s comments: Staff was to bring the Council a financing plan to consider by the end of August. All commissioners approved the motion.