By John McCallum
Editor 

Cheney moves to buy fire truck

Council agrees to $750,000–$800,000 expenditure using levy funds, state loan

 

Last updated 10/19/2017 at 1:08pm

Cheney firefighters remove a ladder from the department's attack engine during a controlled training burn in 2011.

Cheney's City Council took a step towards replacing the fire department's aging No. 1 attack engine by unanimously authorizing Mayor Tom Trulove's office to sign an agreement with General Fire for the purchase of a new main attack engine.

According to the resolution, General Fire supplies nationally approved Rosenbauer Fire Engines. Cheney is taking this move through an interlocal agreement with the city of Tacoma for the purchase of truck, allowing it to bypass the formal bid process.

City Administrator Mark Schuller said the city has been taking $100,000 from the levy lid lift funds approved by voters in November 2015 and putting that money towards covering some of the costs of a new truck. The city will apply the $200,000 already saved, along with $100,000 coming in 2018 towards the engine's purchase, which is estimated at $750,000 – $800,000.

Schuller said an "apparatus committee," including firefighters, reviewed the department's equipment needs when it comes to what should be included on the engine. With the department at "minimal staff," the upcoming purchase will allow Cheney firefighters to respond to calls with all of the necessary gear.

"It will meet the needs of our everyday firefighters as they perform their duties," Schuller said.

By making the purchase now, the city should save around 5 percent on the purchase price of a piece of apparatus that will take 8–10 months to build.

The balance of the purchase will be paid for by a loan through the state Treasurer's Office's LOCAL program. Finance Director Cindy Niemeier said the loan will be for 13 years at an interest rate better than what the city would get if it had sought private financing - making a guess it would around 3 percent.

According to information from the program's link on the state treasurer's website, each issue of funding is different, and interest rates are set by the lowest bid received by the department on the day the financing issue goes to market. For a 13-year issue on equipment purchases, the latest interest rate was 2.13 percent on Aug. 30, 2016.

Loans through the LOCAL program include all costs and fees in that rate. Payments are made directly to the vendors.

Niemeier said she did a trial application for a loan last year to see if the city would get approved. Because of the lid-lift funding, she believes Cheney's application stands a good chance.

"I have no doubt they are going to fund it," she added.

The presentation of the purchase resolution and council approval came ironically after they were taken to task on fire issues by Cheney resident Cliff Ferguson during citizen comments earlier. Ferguson asked about the status of not only a new engine, but also other pieces of gear the department has said it needs. Trulove said those were being addressed.

"In fact, the fire department is getting all of the essential equipment they need in this budget," he added.

Ferguson pressed further regarding staffing levels at the department, not just full-time staff but volunteers and the status of the department's residency program. Ferguson claimed the department is understaffed, and the city has let the residency program lapse and not sought other options.

According to the Washington Administrative Code addressing fire suppression, fire fighters cannot engage in combating interior structural fires "in the absence of at least two standby firefighters (2-in/2-out)." During a fire this past August at Washington Square Apartments, Cheney's unit couldn't enter part of the complex to rescue a resident because it only had two firefighters initially responding to the blaze.

Officers at Eastern Washington University's Police Department were able to enter and remove the resident to safety. Ferguson praised Cheney's fire staff, but added the city is setting itself up for trouble.

"You can be sure there's going to be a lawsuit," he added. "I'm surprised there hasn't been one.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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