November 15, 2024

New rescue engine, tanker approved by council

By Jamee A

For the first time in 14 years, the Newton Fire Department will be getting a new rescue engine and tanker after getting the green light from the city council Monday. (Jamee A)

A rescue engine and tanker costing nearly $700,000 were approved for purchase by the Newton City Council Monday. The new engine is the first the city has purchased since the 2001 when the ladder truck joined the fleet, according to Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik.

“It is a very significant investment. When we started off on this process it was almost a year and a half ago,” Wellik said.

During the budget process for fiscal year 2015/2016, the Newton Fire Department provided information about needing to replace vehicles. Two of the vehicles were a rescue engine and tanker. Those along with a new ambulance and fire marshal’s utility vehicle were approved for replacement through the bonding issue.

The fire department worked with three local vendors on specifications that were inclusive of the needs and generic enough to allow for all bidders to be able to provide an accurate proposal.

Bidding opened up at 4 p.m. July 8. Three bids were received for the tanks and two bids for the rescue engine.

“One tanker bid we disregarded because it was significantly or substantially lower than the standard that we were looking for,” Wellik said.

The department chose Pierce Manufacturing and its bid of $699,556 with no performance bond. A performance bond is typically required to ensure the completion of the project should the contractor experience issues that would threaten their survival, like bankruptcy.

“It’s right in line with what we were estimating for the project so we were quite happy to see the bids came in where we thought they would be,” Wellik said. “Pierce Manufacturing has been in business for more than 100 years and has a very good track record for not only performance but the product that they provide.”

With council approval, the city met the July 31 deadline before the rates increase by 3 percent or about $21,000 on Aug. 1. Wellik said he expects it to take about 11 months for the rescue engine and tanker to be delivered. The funds will come from fiscal year 2015/2016 bonding project.

In other business:

• Teresa Ray was named to serve on the Civil Service Commission Board for a term ending April 1, 2018

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com