Council renews CityCare clinic lease and approves fire-truck upfitting equipment

On Sept. 16 the Auburn City Council authorized a lease renewal with Cool Properties for CityCare, the city employee health clinic at 778 North Dean Road, Suite 400, and approved a contract with North America Fire Equipment Company for upfitting equipment for a new tiller truck.

CityCare lease: The council authorized a new lease with an original term of four years and options for three successive three‑year extensions. Council members praised the clinic as an employee benefit and a recruitment tool; staff said the clinic has been in operation since 2014 and that the city does not expect to outgrow the facility during the initial four‑year term.

Tiller upfitting and equipment: The council authorized a $50,138 contract for upfitting the new tiller truck with items described in staff materials, including a thermal imaging camera for interior firefighting use, and a cutter/spreader/RAM extrication kit (commonly called "jaws of life") for vehicle extrication. Councilmembers who rode the new truck during a demonstration described the vehicle as capable and noted required training (chief and staff said operation requires extensive training, roughly 40 hours for drivers and additional field practice). The council noted this vote covered equipment/upfitting and not the full truck purchase price (members referenced a larger total cost for the vehicle itself). The motion carried.

Why it matters: The CityCare lease secures the employee clinic space and the upfitting purchase equips the new tiller for firefighting and rescue operations; councilmembers emphasized public-safety benefits and training commitments for staff.