Between August 1 and August 14, the township fire department responded to 18 EMS assists and 1 vehicle accident. Between August 15 and August 31, the department responded to 8 EMS assists, 14 EMS runs, 3 vehicle accidents, 1 residential alarm, 1 gas leak, and 1 possible vehicle fire. Between September 1 and September 18, the department responded to 33 EMS assists, 2 residential alarms, 3 vehicle accidents, 1 vehicle accident with an injury, 1 open burn, 1 law enforcement assist, and 1 gas/odor investigation bringing the year to date total to 337 runs.
Fire chief Frank Triana advised the Trustees at the Wednesday, August 15, meeting that Mason Montgomery has completed his National Registry Testing and is now a Firefighter I / Emergency Medical Technician Basic. Congratulations to Mason. The fire roster is now at 44 with an attached roster for review. A quick bread down of this includes: Fire Certifications – 1 Volunteer, 17 Firefighter I, 26 Firefighter II; EMS Certifications – 15 EMT’s, 1 EMT Advanced, 18 Paramedics; and 14 Fire Safety Inspectors. Many of the certifications also hold cards in inspector, instructor and live fire.
At the Wednesday, September 5, board meeting Triana shared that Berlin Township Fire Department is working on a group pricing for air bottles for SCBA’s. It would be good timing and a great opportunity for the Vermilion Township Fire Department to participate at this time in acquiring five to eight air bottles pending pricing. Chief Triana will let their Chief know of his interest for five to eight air bottles and will report back when pricing has been obtained.
At the Wednesday, September 19, regular board meeting, The fire chief reported that he spoke with Finley Fire the week of September 17, 2018. Finley is looking to round out their orders of new apparatus for this fiscal year. The cost of the new pumper/tanker is at $629,253.00. Pre-pay discount would be $23,618.95. Total cost at $605,634.00 plus the cost of the fee for State bid and performance bond of $6,505.00, bringing the cost to $612,139.00. Finley Fire Equipment has stated that there is new pricing for the truck which is lower than the above $629,253.00. The new price will be $627,096.00 and the Chief is waiting for the pre-pay discount figure from Finley Fire as this must be recalculated. They are thinking this number to be around $20,000.00 and our final cost would be approximately $607,096.00. The Chief should have all figures in by this week. Finley Fire has stated that should Vermilion Township enter into contract for this truck they will pay the State bid fee and the performance bond at $6,505.00. The current issue is that this pricing is only good until the end of the month. The Chief felt that this was a good venture because it keeps the Vermilion Township Fire Department on plan to upgrade 20 plus year-old equipment. The new truck is multipurpose, basically two trucks in one, that being a NFPA pumper and 2,500-gallon tanker.
The Chief suggested in a past meeting that the new apparatus could be paid for via the fire budget and financing. The Chief suggested that the Board act upon this at this time. Th Chief asked that the Board approve $305,000.00 from the fire budget and to contact PNC equipment finance in Columbus, Ohio to finance the balance either over five (5), seven (7), or ten (10) years. The Chief suggested the five (5) year plan. The Chief asked, at this time, the Board of Trustees direct the Fiscal Officer to contact PNC equipment finance in Columbus, Ohio to ascertain that Vermilion Township is eligible for funding in the amount of the balance to be determined this week.
Trustee Dickel stated he had talked to the Chief and did not realize this issue regarding purchasing a new apparatus was coming up this quick and feels this issue needs to be discussed further. There are still some questions to be addressed regarding apparatus and funding. Trustee Decker agreed with Trustee Dickel that there are questions that need to be answered such as miles on current apparatus, what kind of repairs have been made and money spent, and he recommended checking GovDeals, the place to bid on government surplus, which is advertising a pumper/tanker.
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