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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 28, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10 of 15 water. One vehicle is not enough for a house fire but just as they do now in the non-hydrant areas, they would call for mutual aid. About 70 percent of the community does not have hydrants. He said tankers do not always have a pump but having a pump on this vehicle would make it more useable for the other City departments. Orono did not look at a used tanker/tender because they wanted it to be useable for other departments and have a longer life. Benson said these are coming out of the Fire Capital Fund and the balance is currently $77,000. She asked if these costs would come out in 2025 or 2026. She cited the most recent Long Lake purchase of a similar brush medical truck for just over $200,000 and an engine for $100,000. She noted the brush medical rig in this list had been proposed by Van Eyll in 2022 when he was the Long Lake Fire Chief but it had been tabled. Van Eyll explained that the trucks would be leased over a period of time and that the City of Long Lake already has the equipment for the truck so does not have to pay for outfitting, which reduces the cost. The engine Long Lake is buying is a used engine that is significantly older than the one Orono is proposing, he said. He reiterated it is necessary to have two rescue pumpers that are 15 years old or less to remain NFPA compliant. He explained Long Lake had tabled the purchase of the brush medical vehicle because of questions about the quotes and then Long Lake’s focus changed to purchasing command vehicles because they were very difficult to find at the time. Veach asked about fire call data, pointing out most calls are medical. She said a lot of money is being spent for a small percentage of calls, but she understands it is necessary to have this equipment. She also asked about the size of the new department given that Orono accounted for about three quarters of the calls answered by Long Lake Fire and asked if a staff of equal size is appropriate. Van Eyll said seven percent of calls are house fires, others are alarms that do not result in a full fire. The majority are medicals. He said it seemed reasonable to have the same size department, especially with the hope of adding service to nearby small communities. He called it future-proofing. Benson asked about whether the Long Lake Fire Department had a capital improvement plan. Van Eyll said it does but he was restricted to $103,000 worth of funding coming in per year. In regard to questions about the possibility of leasing to own the equipment, Van Eyll said the costs for the various trucks from the manufacturer included interest and were the high end. The City may be able to do better on a lease which would also flatten out the payments over a period of time. Veach asked how purchases like this were made in the past. Van Eyll said the City of Orono bonded for Fire Station 2 and the rescue vehicle and engine there in about 2004. Crosby moved, Johnson seconded, to purchase a Brush Medical Response Utility from Fire Safety USA for $225,259 and the outfitting for $130,000 for use by the Orono Fire Department for a total cost of $355,259 and authorize staff to obtain a competitive proposal using a selective RFP for lease proposal. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 1 (Benson). 18. AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE RESCUE PUMPERS