September 14, 2020 Work Session

Mayor James M. Jaroszynski
Trustee Timothy Dunn
Trustee J. Michael Steele
Trustee Alan Gustafson, Jr.
Trustee Kipp Reynolds

Anna L. Fales, Village Clerk

The work session meeting of the Village of Falconer Mayor and Board of Trustees was held on Monday, September 14, 2020 at 5:45 P.M. in the Falconer Public Library with Mayor James Jaroszynski presiding. All social distancing and COVID safety protocols were followed.  It is noted that this is the first work session held since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anthony Cavallaro and Steve Vanstrom, both representing the Fire Advisory Board, were in attendance to update the board on the fire truck committee progress and their suggestion actions.

Mr. Vanstrom presented the mayor and board with a packet of information put forth by the truck committee which included:

1. A letter from the committee
2. 20/21-year budget with the Capital F account accruals highlighted noting, that as of 5/31/20 the balance was, $881,263.14 and at year-end, the balance was $1,019,612.00.
3. Information packet on Sourcewell purchasing consortium.

Mr. Vanstrom explained that the department budget’s for truck replacements every 20 years.

This is now the 21^st year of service for E410.  The next potential replacement of E401 looks like it will be in 27 years. The committee tries to project out 30 years in advance.  In 2006, the committee projected a replacement truck in 2021 to cost approximately $662,162.

Mr. Vanstrom noted that the village is currently a member of the purchasing consortium, Sourcewell, which is a municipal purchasing company.  Sourcewell, manages competitive bids for municipalities and other public entities.  There is no fee to join, but there is a $2,000 fee for bid management service.  In return, Sourcewell guarantees a 2% discount below the lowest bid.

Currently there are 3 companies that produce Class A trucks along the east coast: Pierce, Sutton and Seagrade.  The committee considers serviceability, whether or not trucks are certified for rebuild and whether or not the truck is worthy of the 20-year service life required by our department. Mr. Vanstrom stated that a Class A Custom Pumper is needed to meet these requirements.

Of the three companies, Seagrade is manufactured along the east coast with Syracuse as their closest location. They are certified to rebuild but they are not interested in business this far west.  Sutton is located in Ohio. They have the serviceability capabilities but are not certified to rebuild.  Pierce can provide both serviceability and they are certified to rebuild. 

Using Sourcewell, if the lowest bid comes in at $707,000, less a 2% discount, the cost would be $693,000.  The Sourcewell charge of $2,000 to be added bring the cost to $695,000.  A prepay cash discount of $25,000 is offered, if payment is made within 10 days of the order. That would make the final cost approximately $670,000, which is a difference of less than $8,000 of the committees 2006 projected replacement cost of  $662,162.  Build time for a truck is usually 10 months – 1 year.

Mr. Vanstrom explained that the department’s fixed system extractor (Jaws of Life) is on the current truck and is also 20 years old.  The fire department has experienced many times when the hose was not long enough.  It is the committee’s recommendation to add a new portable extractor to the cost of the new pumper, making the E401 replacement a combo rescue pumper.  The estimated cost of the extractor is $22,000, which would be paid out of the truck fund, not out of the small equipment fund.  This addition would increase the estimated cost of the truck to $ 692,000.00.

E401 is the workhorse of the department with 2-2.5% more use that the other trucks.

Mr. Vanstrom stated that the committee will need the board approval to authorize the bid process to be handled through Sourcewell at a cost of $2,000, along with additional approval to begin the process to sell the current E401 truck.

Mr. Vanstrom noted that Pierce standardizes equipment which makes transition easier for volunteer fire departments because it standardizes maintenance, pump panels, and it is serviced from Churchville, NY (near Rochester).

The current department truck replacement schedule is as follows:

Mayor Jaroszynski thanked the Fire Advisory Board & truck committee for their hard work and detailed presentation to the board. 

The board will address their decision on the committee’s requests in open session of the regular board meeting starting at 7 pm this evening.

A motion was made by Trustee Dunn, seconded by Trustee Gustafson, to adjourn the work session at 6:50 pm.  Ayes:  All, Nays: None.  Carried.

Respectfully submitted,
Anna L. Fales