The Board of Finance agreed Tuesday night to put a $250,000 down payment on a $1,252,000 pumper firetruck, a move that would secure the lowest of six bids the fire department received last week.
Residents will be asked to approve the move at a town meeting slated for Wednesday, September 2 at 7 p.m.
Quotes ranged from the $1.2 million bid to $1,545,703.
The town currently has $260,000 in its fire engine account and is seeking $885,000 in congressionally directed funding in the federal budget. The appropriation is supported by Senator Richard Blumenthal but must still be passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, approved by Congress and signed by the president.
The new truck will be delivered in just under three years and will replace a truck that is currently 31 years old.
There was considerable variation in the bids received for items such as length of warranties, compartment space, wheelbase, fuel tank size and the like.
The vehicle selected will be supplied by E-One of Ocala, Fla., one of the largest fire apparatus makers in the country and comes with a 20-year warranty for its body and a lifetime warranty for the water tank. It can carry up to 2,000 feet of four-inch hose.
The Board of Finance took a more cautious approach to a request from the fire department to restore a $350,000 equipment storage garage to its current building plan for the new fire house. The three-bay garage was cut from the plan to save money, but the firefighters argue that current cost projections for the overall project show that including it would still bring the project in below the $4 million borrowing limit approved by the town.
The finance members decided, however, that only preliminary work for the building such as laying the infrastructure for utilities and site preparation should be budgeted at this time, with construction to be undertaken later. They propose that $125,000 be designated for this purpose.
This item, too, must be taken to the town meeting.