Gardner City fire chief asks committee to fund feasibility study and outlines multi-year vehicle plan
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Summary
At a Jan. 21 committee meeting, the fire chief urged a $250,000 feasibility study for the aging 1978 fire headquarters and outlined multi-year vehicle and ambulance replacements, citing long delivery times and a recent FEMA AFG grant that covered portable radio costs.
Speaker 2, identified in the meeting as the fire chief, told the Capital Planning Committee on Jan. 21 that the city had removed portable radios from this year’s capital list after securing an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) from FEMA that covers roughly 90% of the cost. "We did secure the AFG, FEMA assistance to firefighters grant award this year for that," Speaker 2 said.
The chief described three categories of facilities work and fleet needs. He proposed a standalone three-bay garage to replace a converted Cumberland Farms annex used for vehicle and equipment storage and gave a rough construction estimate of about $750,000. He also said the main fire headquarters, built in 1978, is ‘‘approaching 50 years old’’ and lacks adequate space, separate facilities for female staff, and modern decontamination capability.
To resolve those questions, the chief recommended a feasibility study to examine renovation, replacement, or the construction of a substation; he said consultations with chiefs in other Massachusetts towns suggested about $250,000 is a reasonable cost for a complete study. Speaker 2 said the study would evaluate whether to renovate the existing facility, build an addition, replace it entirely, or pursue a satellite station model.
On fleet replacement, the chief presented multiple vehicle requests and timeline estimates: a remount/rechassis option for Rescue 2 at an estimated $250,000 (about half the price of a new ambulance), new-ambulance pricing in the roughly $500,000 range, a front-line pumper costing on the order of $1,000,000, and a three-quarter-ton pickup with plow near $85,000. He cautioned that new apparatus have industry lead times of two to four years, so advance ordering or rechassis options affect operational availability.
The department currently operates one newly acquired ambulance as primary (Rescue 3), one fully stocked reserve (Rescue 4), and has maintained Rescue 2 as a mechanical spare. Speaker 2 said Rescue 2 has been out of service since October awaiting a backordered computer control module. To restore a three-ambulance rotation more quickly, the city is under agreement to buy a used ambulance from the town of Westminster; Speaker 2 said that purchase, plus a rechassis or replacement schedule, would allow the department to meet the five-year replacement cycle he described.
Committee members questioned whether to build an addition or a new station and asked about land availability; the chief said adjacent city-owned lots might permit an addition and cautioned that recent roof and interior stabilization work (which he said had an insurance-supported final bill he estimated at over $1,500,000) made an immediate abandonment of the current building impractical without evaluation.
No formal motions or votes on these requests were recorded in the provided transcript. The committee did not adopt any funding decisions on Jan. 21; the chief’s presentation closed with an agreement to pursue the feasibility study and to bring more precise cost information back to the committee for FY27 budgeting.
