Fire Chief Hopes Voters Approve $185,000 For Maintenance

Fire District Fire Chief Pete Hendrikson had a wish list of maintenance projects at the - $185,000 in maintenance projects he hoped would be funded in next year’s budget. Fire commissioners instead decided to tap into a fund set aside for vehicle replacement rather than say no or increase the budget.

The at Swift Community Center at 7. Voters will be asked to approved a $5.2 million budget for fiscal year 2012, but they will also be asked to approve Hendrikson’s maintenance list and the commissioners’ plan to fund it.

In order to fund the projects identified by Hendrikson, the Commissioners decided to use money from the Apparatus Fund, something set up many years ago to cover the cost of new or used vehicles for the department.

“The apparatus account, does that have to be just for apparatus or can that be for other things?” Hendrikson asked the commissioners at the meeting in May. After some consultation, it was decided that the fund could be switched to a more general capital projects fund.

Then there was the question of what projects to fund this year, but after some more discussion, commissioners voted to fund all of the items on Hendrikson’s list.

“We’re funding $109,000 [for the chief’s list] … why don’t we just put it all in capital projects and be done with it?” said Commissioner Stephen Bartlett.

After the meeting, Hendrikson explained that while the Apparatus Fund had been established to pay for vehicle replacement, right now there were no big-ticket items in sight and the fund has more than $1 million in it. According to Hendrikson, the ladder truck is from 2004 and the two engines are from 2007 and 2009.

Here is Chief Hendrikson’s list:

1. Replace the roof over the administration offices at Station 1 (the station on Main Street). “The roof is leaking,” he said. “That has the original asphalt shingle roof from the remodel 30 years ago. It leaks around the flashing at the bell tower.” Estimated cost: $4,500.

2. Installing a new boiler at Station 2 (on Frenchtown Road). “The boiler at Station 2 is a dinosaur,” said Hendrikson. It’s original to the building, which was built in 1972, and is about twice as big as the building needs, he said. Back in ‘72, not only was fuel a lot cheaper, but the town wasn’t sure if it would need to add on to the station at some point, so the bigger boiler seemed to make sense. “The efficiency is terrible,” he said. Estimated cost: $30,000.

3. Refurbish kitchens at both stations. Estimated cost: $10,000.

4. Ironically, the fire alarm system at station 2 needs an upgrade. As the chief said, it is a building like any other and is required to have the same alarm system in place. Estimated cost: $5,600

5. The big-ticket item is replaced of the concrete floor at station 1, which is leaking into the basement there. The floor was compromised after bearing the weight of the heavier fire trucks over the years. “What ruined the floor was parking an engine on that floor. We will never do that again. What’s there now is a rescue and a rescue is half what an engine is,” said Hendrikson. Estimated cost: $70,000.

6. Installing a fueling station at station 2. Estimated cost: $20,000.

7. The chief is also requesting money for a new deputy chief's vehicle. Estimated cost: $45,000.