Whitestown Fire Chief updates board on station BOT process, equipment shortages and EMS revenue

The Fire Chief updated the Town of Whitestown Fire Board Nov. 5 on three operational matters: the request-for-proposals/qualifications (RFPQ) process for a proposed station under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement, current department statistics and EMS billing, and the status of apparatus repairs and replacement timelines.

On the proposed station, the Fire Chief said the town resolution established a BOT committee that has been reviewing vendor submittals under nondisclosure agreements. "The BOT committee met and interviewed the submittals for the potential fire station project," the chief said, adding the committee expects to produce a recommendation to the Town Council at the December council meeting and that, if the council approves proceeding, the project would move into a scoping and design phase to develop a price for Council consideration. He emphasized the board has not yet received public packages because the BOT committee’s work remains under NDA.

The chief gave standard operations statistics for October: 34 annual inspections, 113 miscellaneous inspections and 35 alarm/sprinkler tests (reported total 182 inspections). He described training activity including a countywide mass-casualty exercise, vehicle-stabilization training and a week-long trench rescue technician course attended by seven members alongside Lebanon Fire Department. The transcript lists training hours in a format read as "12 71 hours"; the formatting is unclear in the meeting transcript and is noted as ambiguous in our clarifying details below.

On EMS operations the chief reported translation-service usage for the month (87 video minutes and 12 audio minutes) and stated October EMS revenue was $41,962.14, bringing year-to-date EMS revenue to $420,954 (reported as 14.68% ahead of last year at this point). He also reported 176 runs in October and a year-to-date total of 1,644 runs, and said Narcan administrations to date were 9. Some numeric fields in the transcript (for example the transported miles and billed-services formatting) appear garbled in the transcript and are flagged as unclear below.

A Board Member asked specifically about the status of trucks with earlier repair issues. The Fire Chief said repairs are still ongoing and that, candidly, "we are down to no reserves." He reported receipt of a repair quote received that afternoon for $12,600 to repair the department’s reserve ladder apparatus and said the wait time for such a repair remains about 20 months; he estimated lead times for a new truck at roughly "three-and-a-half to four years" and said replacement-vehicle quotes are being solicited.

No formal board action was taken on the BOT/station project or on capital purchases during the meeting; the BOT committee will present public materials when its review is complete and the board will consider them when available.