EAST PROVIDENCE — Two weeks after approving the allocation of slightly more than $1.5 million for the purchase of three new “pumper” engines for the fire department, the East Providence City Council voted to reconsider its affirmation at its Tuesday, Oct. 20, meeting on the basis of procedural concerns.
Both City Manager Richard Kirby and City Solicitor Tim Chapman urged the Council to take the precautionary step. Mr. Kirby noted EPFD Chief Oscar Elmasian was only scheduled to make a presentation on the topic at the October 6 meeting and that the manager himself did not place the item on the agenda for the Council to take a vote.
In light of that fact, Mr. Chapman expressed his concern about the vote itself, which because it was not included as an action item on the docket it could possibly have violated state open meeting lays.
The motion to rescind the initial vote and take it up at a later date passed by a 5-0 vote of the Council.
In light of the move, Chief Elmasian said the issue once again takes on urgency if the city hopes to save anywhere between $60,000 and $75,000 on the cost of buying the new pumpers.
There was some expediency in making a decision on the matter two weeks ago due to a looming deadline. The EPFD is currently able to buy the new vehicles through a purchasing collaborative with the Texas-based Houston/Galveston Area Council. Under the terms of the collaborative, the current pricing plan is scheduled to close as of November 1. Costs per vehicle are expected to increase between three and five percent as of December.
With the initial approval, the city was set enter into a lease/purchase agreement with Spartan ERV, an emergency vehicle manufacturer with locations in both South Dakota and Pennsylvania. The company has built similar engines for the fire departments in Dallas, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco among other municipalities.
Money has already been allocated for the lease of a new apparatus in the current Fiscal Year 2015 budget. Additional funding is set aside in the proposed FY16 document. The Council will then need to add the cost of the third new engine lease in next year’s FY17 appropriation.
Two of the new engines, or “pumpers,” are earmarked to replace vehicles currently in service at Station 2 in Riverside and Station 3 in Rumford and would render obsolete the oldest trucks in the department still is use purchased in 1990 and 1994.
By purchasing as many as three vehicles under the collaborative, the city would shave nearly $25,000 off the cost of each engine ($548,000 to $524,000, approx.). Also, the department would save thousands of dollars annually in repair costs. In addition, the mechanics at the city garage will receive training support as part of the purchasing contracts and the department will also receive approximately $6,000 in spare parts for each vehicle.
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