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Borough proposes Pager Road maintenance shop and 2–3 EVT mechanics; chiefs ask for cost details
Summary
Borough staff proposed hiring 2–3 emergency vehicle technicians to operate from the Pager Road facility to reduce downtime for fire engines and ambulances; fire chiefs praised the concept but pressed for detailed staffing, cost and billing plans before the committee makes a budget recommendation.
The Regional Emergency Services Advisory Committee heard a borough proposal to staff a maintenance shop at the Pager Road facility with two to three emergency-vehicle technicians to service fire apparatus and borough ambulances. Administration said the change is intended to reduce out-of-service time for pumps and other critical systems and to centralize maintenance capacity.
Luke Butcher, Director of Emergency Operations, told the committee the borough lacks local access to enough EVT-certified mechanics and proposed one heavy-duty EVT for fire apparatus plus one to two light-duty EVTs to support ambulances and other emergency vehicles. "There is a lack of access in general across our community to EVTs," Butcher said, and he cited an in-flux ambulance fleet ("10 to 11 ambulances") and roughly "25 fire service area owned apparatus" as the workload driving the request. One-time equipment needs were estimated at about $65,000 for vehicle lifts and $30,000 for tools; administration gave a rough estimate of about $150,000 in wages and benefits per position.
Chiefs and other fire leaders generally supported the idea of local capacity but raised operational and financial concerns. Frank Bracken, a fire chief, said civilian shops often deprioritize fire apparatus and that limited EVT training and staff turnover leave departments vulnerable. "We just had a fire pump rebuilt" and departments often struggle to find prioritized service, Bracken said.
Robert Wells, a battalion chief and former transit shop supervisor, gave historical context and urged at least two heavy mechanics and one light mechanic to adequately serve the borough's fleet. Forrest Kuiper, University Fire Department chief, said UAF has EVT-certified shop staff but does not have capacity to take on substantially more work and that outsourcing to UAF would likely raise direct costs for departments.
Michelle Denton, Director of Transportation, told the committee the borough's newer FTA-funded facility was designed and approved primarily for buses, vans and ambulances under a Federal Transit Administration conditional-use agreement, and that working on fire trucks there would require explicit FTA permission. "That agreement states that the work we do on other borough vehicles... will not interfere with the repair of those vehicles," Denton said, describing both a regulatory and a space constraint.
Several chiefs asked how the program would be funded and whether mechanics would be tied to emergency-operations budgets or billed out as a shop-rate service to fire service areas. Administration proposed options to mix funding sources — including emergency operations funds, adjusted shop rates, or non-area-wide funds — and committed to return with detailed cost estimates, staffing models, and billing scenarios before the assembly's April budget process.
The committee voted to continue the discussion and scheduled a follow-up meeting to consider detailed numbers. The motion to take the item up at a meeting on Monday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m. was moved by Mr. Guttenberg, seconded by Mr. Bones, and passed by roll call, 6–0.
Next steps: administration will provide concrete staffing and cost options (wage and benefit estimates, number of FTEs, one-time equipment costs, and potential shop rates) for committee review prior to the borough's budget deliberations.
