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Ordinance committee approves amended $17.246M capital appropriation and hears fire department briefing on aging apparatus
Summary
The Stratford Ordinance Committee approved amendments to Ordinance 3.2 (CIP appropriation 26-12), removing a $1 million underground utilities project and adding a $200,000 Lordship mobile cafeteria; members also debated funding and heard a detailed presentation from Fire Chief Atkinson on apparatus age, costs and a 3–4 year procurement timeline.
The Stratford Ordinance Committee on June 30 approved an amended capital-improvement appropriation (recorded in committee as Ordinance 26-12) that removed a $1 million relocated-utilities project and added a $200,000 Lordship mobile cafeteria; the committee chair announced the motion passed by voice vote.
During debate, members discussed using leftover bonding capacity to cover a proposed Baldwin Center HVAC replacement and the town attorney indicated staff would confirm whether existing bond authorizations could be applied to that work. Council member Fria moved the amendment that removed the utility project and added the school cafeteria project; members later voted to approve the amended appropriation. Committee discussion included an adjusted total cited in the transcript as $17,246,000 after the change.
Following the amendment debate, Fire Chief Atkinson briefed the committee at length on the condition of the town’s apparatus. He said roughly half the fleet is in or approaching reserve status and that manufacturing lead times for new apparatus are about 3–4 years under the Stratford specification. Chief Atkinson said apparatus prices have risen roughly 30 percent and that an average new fire apparatus is approaching $1.5 million; he also described warranty and maintenance practices and said the department’s annual apparatus-maintenance budget is roughly $85,000.
Chief Atkinson outlined options for policymakers: use remaining bond proceeds where allowable, consider ordering earlier to lock price and place in the build queue, or rechassis certain aerial apparatus (a full replacement was estimated at about $3 million versus a rechassis around $1.7 million). He also described mutual-aid arrangements with neighboring departments (Bridgeport, Milford) for incidents that exceed Stratford’s immediate capacity.
Council members raised public-safety and fiscal concerns: some urged adding a vehicle sooner (council members referenced a $1.6 million earlier allocation and discussed the possibility of adding an additional $1.6 million apparatus purchase to get ahead of long lead times), while others emphasized a 'debt diet' approach and the need to limit borrowing. The committee did not adopt an immediate additional appropriation for another apparatus; members said they would continue conversations with staff and the mayor about timing and procurement strategy.
The committee concluded by approving Ordinance 3.2 as amended and adjourning at 6:55 p.m.
