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Council tables $600,000 fireboat decision to Oct. 13 after public concern and pending grant outcome
Summary
After heated public comment and council debate over a proposed $600,000 fireboat, the council voted to table the item until Oct. 13 to await federal grant decisions and additional information on mutual-aid, call frequency and overall cost-benefit.
The council heard extensive public comment on a proposed fireboat, including arguments both for and against purchasing a $600,000 vessel to support river rescue, medical response and firefighting.
Opponents questioned scale and cost, and asked why an earlier plan for a $150,000 match had been replaced. "I really would think twice, do we need to spend this 600,000?" public commenter Esther Kennedy said during the hearing. She and others argued that multiple state and federal agencies operate vessels on the Piscataqua and urged clearer accounting of calls and cost-per-response.
Supporters — including multiple councilors and members of the fire department — said the department provides EMS response on the river and the current boat is inadequate for medical care and winter rescues. "We are the medical aid... the paramedics among all these agencies, that we need the right tools to do the job," Councilor Taber said in support. Councilors who had opposed higher earlier price tags said the $600,000 option is more defensible than the earlier $900,000 estimate.
The council considered motions to approve, to wait for grant results and to table. Because a previous motion to limit the city's share to $150,000 (a 25% match) had not passed at an earlier meeting, the item returned as a $600,000 CIP amount. The council ultimately voted to table the item and set an Oct. 13 hearing date (after the federal fiscal-year grant window closes) so that staff can report back on the grant outcome and procurement impacts.
Next steps: staff will await the federal grant determination (expected between end of August and end of September) and will return with procurement implications and cost-per-call data; council will take up the issue on Oct. 13.
