LETTER: Amherst Firefighters Need Your Support

Amherst Fire Department encourages the citizens to exercise their right to vote on March 13th.  Warrant article #28 is to see if the town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to enter into a four year lease/purchase agreement for the purpose of replacing a worn out 25 year old fire engine.   Amherst Fire Department needs your support in replacing this fire engine as it is rusted beyond repair.   Each storage compartment of the truck has significant rust, one compartment had a steel plate welded in the bottom of it last year to pass state inspection and keep tools and equipment from falling out.   The frame members are rusted and the truck lacks the safety features of modern fire apparatus and passenger vehicles.   

This warrant appeared on last year’s ballot and unfortunately a last minute article was published in the news insinuating the truck did not need to be replaced and only had one compartment with significant rust.   This couldn’t be any further from the truth and cast just enough doubt in the voter’s eyes to result in a tie vote.   Firefighters petitioned to have the votes recounted and the results confirmed the vote was a tie.   It was a historic vote and possible the only warrant in Amherst history to end in a tie.   However a tie vote fails to achieve a simple majority, thus the warrant failed and we had no choice but to stretch another year or more out of this fire engine.   If the warrant passes this year it will take time to put the lease and the truck out for bid, award the bids and order the truck after July 1st when funds will be available.   Fire trucks in the United States typically are custom built to customer specifications and take 6 to 9 months to build.   Even if the warrant passes this March we will not receive the new truck until this time next year pushing this fire engine to 26 years of service.

It is our intent to lease/purchase a combination truck that will serve the town as a rescue truck and a fire engine.   This dual purpose saves the taxpayers money by eliminating the need for a separate vehicle to carry rescue equipment.   It will also enhance rescue capabilities by increasing storage space for critical rescue tools used during motor vehicle accidents such as the “jaws of life”.   Although we will enter into a four year lease/purchase agreement with payments of $154,223 annually we intend to utilize $150,000 in capital reserve funds approved by the voters in 2010 for the final payment.   This will essentially make this a three year lease and save an estimated $7,000 in interest.    

The members of Amherst Fire Department encourage you to get out and vote on March 13th and ask you to support article #28.

Respectfully
Mark R. Boynton
Fire Chief