Fire District 4 to Hold Special Election

Fire District 4 is holding a special election, asking residents of the district to vote on whether the company can purchase two new trucks for its firefighters.

According to Allen Kurdyla, a commissioner with the fire district, a special meeting will be held April 16 at 7 p.m. at the Finderne Fire House on East Main Street, and those in attendance will vote on the referendum.

The district encompasses those in the Finderne section of town, and only those residents will be allowed to vote on the referendum.

Kurdyla said this process of voting during a meeting has been approved by the Department of Community Affairs.

“The reason we are doing it this way is because the alternative was to put it on the ballot at the February elections,” Kurdyla said. “The problem we had is that if we had put it on the ballot, we did not have all the information that we felt we needed to make a proper request to the voters.”

The district is requesting approval to purchase a triple combination pumper fire apparatus and a 100-foot aerial platform fire apparatus.

The request is for $1.25 million.

But, Kurdyla said, it’s important to remember that taxes are not rising based on this request—this request is budget neutral, he said, and will not change what was approved in the February elections at all.

A couple years ago, Kurdyla said, the district started saving money to its capital fund, knowing that it would have to replace trucks.

“If all works out well, what we will be able to do is save a portion of the money saved, use it as a down payment on trucks and finance the balance for maybe a seven-year period,” he said. “In that period, we will make the payments on the trucks and still have money to put aside to use on next trucks.”

Kurdyla said they have saved roughly $700,000 so far in the capital fund for the purchases.

As for payment plans, Kurdyla said they are anticipating a seven-year payment plan.

“My understanding is that the finance rates are extremely reasonable right now, so we believe from some preliminary numbers we should be OK,” he said. “And in probably another six years, we will have another engine to be replaced, and still have a heavy rescue truck that will need some work also.”

The long-term plan, Kurdyla said, is to use the category in the district’s budget to fund all activity moving forward.

Kurdyla said they have been preparing for the possible purchase for some time.

“What we’ve been doing in the past few years is talking to different vendors about the pricing of trucks and the possibility of purchasing a ladder truck and engine,” he said. “The benefit to us to do this is there should be a price break if we purchase two at one time.”

In addition, Kurdyla said, they are strongly considering purchasing a demo unit.

“Over the last year, we have had multiple demo units brought to the fire house where they’ve had the truck for six months and said if we want to buy it, here it is,” he said. “Then it’s a couple hundred thousand dollars less than having it custom built.”

The trucks they currently have, Kurdyla said, were built in 1989, so they are about 24 years old.

“With a ladder truck, the rule of thumb used to be to replace in 17 to 20 years by NFPA recommendations,” he said. “What we’ve been able to do is keep the trucks in service for 24 years.”

“They’re not a problem, if they were we would not use them,” he added. “Typically a fire department, when a truck gets to be 20 years old, they are replaced.”

The difference now, Kurdyla said, is that they’re upgrading the ladder truck to include a pump and water tank so they will have additional capabilities with it.

“It will go from 85 feet to 100 feet, so we will have more reach with it,” he said. “We are extending the capacity and improving the capability with the truck.”

If the purchases are approved, Kurdyla said, it could be up to six months out to receive the trucks.

“We’re not looking to build a truck, what we are saying is we want to purchase trucks that are functional,” he said. “We’re not looking for custom fire trucks, we are looking for solid ones.”

“Like anything, when things reach a certain age, you start having problems with them,” he added. “And what you really don’t want to have is to be called out in the middle of the night and find out we have a reliability issue.”

And in a few years, Kurdyla said, they will consider further purchases, possibly the replacement of a 20-year-old engine in 2018, for a cost of about $400,000.

“We also have a chief’s vehicle that could need replacement, and an air system on rescue, that’s $70,000 in and of itself,” he said. “That’s why we set up the capital fund. We waited a few years so we could accumulate the money so we could get this payment plan and schedule in place.”

But, Kurdyla said, they will not be raising taxes with the purchase.

“Not raising taxes is a part that’s extremely important, we are not looking to go out and get a bond,” he said. “We structured the budget so these line items are here.”

After the vote, Kurdyla said, if the referendum is approved, they will move forward on the purchases.

“We will get the specs, then call the state and the DCA has to approve everything,” he said. “A lot of people have spent a lot of time to put specifications together and do what’s best for the fire district.”