It appears the ghost of the Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission is still haunting the fire department.
Fire Chief Jack LeRoy wishes to put $42,286 remaining in two OPFEC accounts towards purchasing a new pumper truck for Station #1 (N. Washington and Church streets) to replace a unit that’s approaching its 21st year of service.
‘It’s our frontline pumper,? he said. ‘If it goes down, we don’t have a matching unit (at Station #1) that can take its place immediately.?
Even though the township technically owns and operates the fire department, the $42,286 in question belongs to OPFEC, the joint township-village authority which oversaw the fire department from 1999 until its court-ordered dissolution in 2005.
Because the division of OPFEC’s assets is currently going through binding arbitration, the village council last week voted 5-0 to refer LeRoy’s request to the arbitrator.
A new pumper would cost the department between $350,000 and $450,000, according to the chief. If the department gets the go-ahead to use OPFEC money, it would try to purchase the new vehicle within two years by combining it with other monies saved from existing funds.
Councilwoman Teri Stiles asked the chief to rate on ‘a scale of 1 to 10? the ‘urgency? of replacing this vehicle. ‘It’s well above 5 at this point,? LeRoy replied. ‘It’s getting very difficult to find parts for it.?
If the pumper broke down, the chief said it could be down ‘for a lengthy period of time.?
LeRoy’s ‘biggest fear? is the pumper going down during a fire run.
A second pumper is located at Station #1, but it has only has a 500-gallon tank. The nearly 21-year-old pumper LeRoy wishes to replace has a 1,000-gallon tank.
Another 1,000-gallon tank pumper is housed at Station #2 (Drahner and Newman roads), however, the chief noted it’s rare that both stations? pumpers would respond to the same fire because they’re meant to cover different areas of the township.
Circumstances and location of the fire coupled with the number of responding personnel would dictate whether both pumpers could be deployed to the same scene.
LeRoy told this reporter the day could come when both 1,000-gallon tank pumpers would be needed at separate locations.
Councilman Chris Bishop asked about the possibility of refurbishing the old truck.
LeRoy said he looked into that and ‘it was almost 85 percent of the cost of a new piece of equipment to have that one refurbished to today’s standards.?
For instance, the old truck has an open canopy cab with two seats in the back. Firefighters who ride in this area are exposed to the elements and danger if there’s a crash. Federal safety standards now require all cabs to be fully enclosed.
Bishop noted that back in May 2005 voters turned down a five-year, $375,000 bond issue to purchase a new pumper. That request failed by only 27 votes. Bishop said he would be ‘more inclined? to want to use the remaining OPFEC money ‘to either pay down bond debt or charge the taxpayers less because there’s surplus in our budget.?