LYNN — The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday to authorize the city to borrow $2.5 million for the purchase of two new fire engines and six new Department of Public Works vehicles, according to City Council President Darren Cyr.
The 10-year bond is a collaborative request from Mayor Thomas M. McGee, Fire Chief Stephen Archer, Department of Public Works (DPW) Commissioner Andrew Hall and the City Council, and is necessary to replace outdated equipment, according to Michael Bertino, the city’s chief financial officer.
The city will pay about $221,000 annually toward the loan. The first payment will come out of next year’s capital budget, Bertino said.
“We need to support the departments from public safety to keeping our roads clear,” said Bertino. “Public safety needs new vehicles and it’s a very good interest rate environment to borrow.”
The loan is “good fiscal management,” said Cyr, who explained it costs the city more money to lease DPW equipment each year than it will to purchase new equipment. The amount of money saved from the decision to purchase, rather than lease equipment, will be enough to cover the city’s annual loan payment, he said.
“We’re desperately in need of a couple of pieces of new equipment,” said Cyr. “It’s financially the (right) thing to do for the city. There’s not going to be any kind of burden put on the taxpayers by doing this. It’s going to actually save the taxpayers money in the long run.”
In addition to the two new engines for the fire department, city officials will use the funds to purchase two front end loaders, two snow plow trucks, an asphalt pothole filler and a bucket truck and/or a similar piece of heavy equipment, which the DPW plans to use for winter storm clean-up, along with street and tree maintenance, Bertino said.
The average age of equipment that will be replaced is 20 years old, which is older than its recommended lifespan of 10 to 15 years. Bertino said. The new equipment is part of the city’s five-year capital plan, he said.
Archer said the fire department has requested an update of its equipment for “quite awhile,” which was outlined in its five-year replacement plan. The document includes a recommended schedule of replacement for all of the department’s trucks based on their average lifespan, he said.
It is not safe to use equipment that is older than 15 years as front line pieces in a busy city such as Lynn, which the department has been forced to do, Archer said.
“We are way behind on replacing some of our apparatus,” Archer said. “Unfortunately, with the city’s financial condition, we were not able to hold to that (replacement) plan, so the purchase of these two pumpers will get us a little closer to where we need to be with updating the apparatus.”
The funds will be used to replace the department’s oldest pieces, Engine 5, a 2001 model, and Engine 10, a 2000 model. The pumper trucks were ordered through the Massachusetts Area Planning Council’s purchasing program at $553,439 apiece, and are expected to arrive by next July.
Still, Archer said the department will need to replace additional outdated equipment. His next goal is to replace Ladder 1, a 2001 model.
The department’s normal complement of equipment is six engines, three ladders, a spare engine and a spare ladder, Archer said. Because of the condition of its equipment, Lynn Fire has had to borrow a spare engine and ladder truck from the Boston Fire Department, and was recently forced to put both into service, he said.
But budget constraints have not only stretched the lifespan of the fire department’s equipment. Archer said several fire stations have remained closed after budget cuts put them out of service in recent years.
“We’re replacing apparatus in the existing stations we use now, Archer said. “Opening up any of our decommissioned stations would require the purchase of more apparatus, which we would love to see happen, especially with the closing of Union Hospital.”
The former Lynnfield Street and Eastern Avenue fire stations have been decommissioned. Both buildings are now used for storage purposes, Archer said.
McGee did not respond to a request for comment. Hall did not return phone calls seeking comment.
