Capital improvement committee proposes new jaws‑of‑life set and radio upgrades for highway

Members of the Town of North Brookfield Capital Improvement Planning Committee presented four capital requests to the Board of Selectmen on April 8 and recommended two as high priorities that could be funded under the town’s current financial situation.

The committee recommended buying a demo set of battery‑powered hydraulic rescue tools (commonly called “jaws of life”) for the North Brookfield Fire Department, with an estimated total cost presented to the committee of $15,600. A fire department representative — identified in the meeting as the fire chief — described the department’s current tools as aging and said the town’s unit dates to 1987. “In 02/2024, we responded to 34 car accidents. 17 of them had injuries or fatalities. 3 of them, we actually had to use the jaws and go to work. We had 1 failure of our power unit at 1 of those calls,” the fire chief said, describing reliability concerns. The chief told the board the demo set offered by the vendor Fire Tech & Safety is significantly cheaper than other quotes the department obtained, and that the recommended brand runs on standard DEWALT 60‑volt batteries rather than proprietary batteries that cost more.

The committee also recommended a radio upgrade for the highway department to move from an unlicensed low‑band system to the town’s already‑licensed high‑band frequency. A committee member explained the highway department’s current low band radios are obsolete and that the town previously purchased a license for the high‑band frequency on June 16, 2022. The quote presented to the committee from the town’s radio vendor (Beltronics) was reduced, after scope adjustments, to $18,165. That scope included a repeater and duplexer to allow emergency management and the highway department to share the town’s antenna on Bell Hill and use separate channels. Committee members emphasized both safety and operational improvements from improved inter‑department communication.

Committee members said they had reopened the CIP in September 2024, collected department requests, and ranked projects under an advisory framework intended to reduce reliance on borrowing over a five‑year horizon. The committee thanked Mr. Trentacosto for assistance in reestablishing the committee and preparing the policy and procedures.

No formal funding action for either project was taken at the April 8 meeting; selectmen noted the items will return as warrant articles for upcoming meetings (including the May 9 special town meeting) where appropriation decisions can be made.

The committee supplied supporting quotes and alternative bids for the jaws‑of‑life purchase and described prior efforts to secure grant funding for batteries and related equipment; the chief reported the town received partial grant funding for batteries in a recent award and said the department would use those funds to support the new equipment if approved.

If approved by voters at a future meeting, the purchases would be executed by the relevant department and vendor contracts would be filed with the town clerk.