(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Responding to an alarming report of vulnerability by Fire
Chief David Volk early last week at its Caucus, the City Council voted
unanimously two days later to authorize the purchase of two used firetrucks from the
Borough of Bound Brook for $45,000.
In a timely covergence of mutual interests, the Resolution was moved by
Councilman William Petrick, a former Volunteer Fire Chief, seconded by
Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 5-0.
“Absolutely yes,” Gonzalez exclaimed during the roll-call vote on the
measure.
A visibly-concerned Volk reported to Council members at their Monday
afternoon work-session that the Fire Department’s fleet, consisting of “three
engines and two ladder-trucks,” plus a rescue-vehicle, was dangerously-depleted
because of extensive — and expensive — repairs which would be needed to
put two of the engines back-on-line as fully-operational.
He told the governing body that one of the engines was down and “in-need of
repair” with “two cracked cylinders” at an estimated cost of $25,000 to
fix.
Volk said a second engine — a 1987 model with 88,000 miles — was being
“kept-in-reserve” because of “mechanical problems and body-corrosion,” and
“only being used for structure-fires.”
He said the latter vehicle “is continuing to develop problems” because
“the passenger-seat broke and part of the body came-off” due to the extensive
corrosion.
“Both ladders and the rescue are in-service,” Volk added.
Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach told the Council that, because
“two of the city’s three engines are in bad shape, and to repair them would be
as-expensive or more as to purchase replacements,” it would be his
recommendation to “declare as surplus and retire” the first engine “and use the
money to purchase the better of two Bound Brook engines.
“If we can identify an appropriate funding-source, we should use it to
purchase the second Bound Brook vehicle for our reserve vehicle,” he added.
Fehrenbach said the city needs “vehicles you can count-on,” and the
purchase of Bound Brook’s surplus engines for $45,000 “could postpone for a year
(until 2012) our own purchase of two new vehicles for 2011.”
He told the Council that the serious condition resulted from the previous
city Administration having “no capital-improvement program for the past five
or six years,” and thus, “this equipment was being utilized too-long.
“The Chief and his staff believe it would be a much-better use of our
money” to purchase the two engines from Bound Brook than to put the two engines
back-on-line as fully-operational, Fehrenbach stated.
Council President Kenneth Balut, a retired Perth Amboy police officer,
suggested that the city “borrow” the $45,000 needed to purchase the two
firetrucks “from the $193,000 we have sitting-in the Police Forfeiture Fund,”
which is overseen by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This IS ‘public safety,’” he declared.
“There’s been an enormous amount of debate over this,” Fehrenbach noted.
“I’m not saying that we should use the money for this,” Balut explained.
“I’m saying we should borrow it and put it back. I believe the Prosecutor’s
Office is totally off-the-wall in what they approve for the use of this
Fund.
“It can be used to rent vehicles, but not to purchase them,” he said.
“That makes absolutely-no-sense.”
Volk passed-out copies of reports on the two Bound Brook engines, which are
being replaced with two new vehicles. one id a 1988 model with 19,000
miles, while the other is a 1984 model with 22,000 miles.
“Bound Brook has 150 responses in a year,” the Chief noted. “Our Engine 1
did more than that last month.
“They’re asking $45,000 for both of them,” he said. “Both of these
vehicles were declared ‘surplus’ last week. They were going to put them on-line,
and I asked them to hold-off and give us a chance to purchase them.”
“We would be crazy not to take them,” Gonzalez declared.
“It’s a fortuitous turn-of-events,” Fehrenbach said.
Questioned by Petrick about the two engines’ condition, Volk responded that
“both underwent pump-tests that they passed annually at 25-percent
above-capacity.”
The Chief also pointed out that “one engine would give us a higher
pump-capacity than we have now.”
The Council also voted unanimously to accept the bid and award the 2011
annual contract for fire engine repairs to Absolute Fire Protection for $73,500.
That Resolution also was moved by Petrick, seconded by Kenneth Gonzalez and
adopted 5-0.
Volk explained that this contract would cover minor repairs throughout the
year, “nothing like” the previously-discussed engine overhaul.
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