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Seymour fire chief warns maintenance shortfalls, asks for $180,000 in capital for SCBA station and extra gear
Summary
Chief Edwards told the board the fire department’s operating budget needs an 11.86% increase to cover rising training, medical and maintenance costs and requested $180,000 in capital — about $80,000 for an SCBA refill station and $100,000 for second sets of turnout gear to meet new state cancer‑safety expectations.
Chief Edwards, head of the Seymour Fire Department, told the board the department is seeking an 11.86% increase to its operating budget to keep up with rising training, parts and labor costs and to cover sharply higher maintenance needs.
Edwards said the department’s maintenance account — which he asked to increase to $85,000 from a prior lower allocation — is already overdrawn this year because the fleet is aging and repair prices have risen. “It is February 18th and I am in the red in maintenance,” Edwards said, noting a truck was out of service and awaiting an estimate.
The chief described a stretched capital timeline: manufacturers are taking two to three years to deliver new apparatus. He said the town has a ladder truck on order placed roughly two and a half years ago and two engines ordered about 18 months ago but without firm delivery dates. “Our older fleet is only getting older,” he said, and emphasized the department’s 10‑year gear‑replacement obligation under NFPA standards.
Edwards proposed two fire‑related capital items totaling $180,000: roughly $80,000 to replace a 30‑year‑old SCBA refill station at the Great Hills Hose Company that has been out of service for months, and $100,000 to purchase second jacket‑and‑pants turnout sets for frontline certified firefighters. He said a single turnout set (coat and pants only) costs about $4,300, and the requested $100,000 would buy about 20 sets to start. “We need a second set of gear to keep these guys in service, but also to keep them safe,” he said, tying the request to compliance and practices prompted by a new state firefighter cancer bill.
Board members pressed Edwards on whether the maintenance increase would be sufficient. Edwards acknowledged $85,000 was a conservative, “low‑ball” figure and said realistic maintenance needs might be closer to $100,000 given the age of the fleet. He explained the department’s capital strategy to stagger vehicle purchases so equipment does not all reach end‑of‑life at once and to lower lifecycle maintenance costs.
Transcript entries show one board member voiced a different total during discussion; the chief had earlier framed the capital request as $180,000 and later an exchange referenced $380,000. The record includes both figures in discussion; the chief’s stated breakdown in the presentation was $80,000 for the refill station and $100,000 for turnout gear.
The chief also described the department’s training and personnel costs: statemandated classes (fire‑1 and fire‑2), DOT medical cards for vehicle drivers, routine physicals and expanded medical screening tied to state cancer protections. He said some vendor prices (gear and live‑burn training) have risen substantially this year.
Next steps: the board did not take a vote at the workshop; capital requests will be presented in the formal capital presentation and deliberated again during the upcoming budget process.
