SWAMPSCOTT — Town Administrator Nick Connors announced at the last Select Board meeting that Chief Graham Archer is working on purchasing an as-built firetruck.
“There’s an opportunity from Pierce to buy an as-built truck so that we do not have to wait 18 to 36 months, depending on the truck,” Connors said.
He continued that there was a small delta between the appropriation and the cost.
“I think in the end, if there are (outstanding purchase orders not being used), we will likely go back to Finance Committee later on if there’s a need for any of those items and use the Finance Committee reserve or request the use of it to make up that change. I believe it’s a $15-20,000 difference between the appropriation and the cost,” he said.
Connors said this is the cheapest way for the Town to purchase a truck.
“We’re not putting bells and whistles on, and it’s also the quickest because in each batch of new trucks, they have one or two that are not assigned to a community,” he said.
Board member David Grishman asked how the Town was lucky enough to have the opportunity to acquire the truck, “considering the wait is up to three years.”
“The chief has been working with the salesperson, that is his contact, for a while, and had identified this as something that we would be able to do,” Connors said.
He noted that the more bells and whistles and customization needed make it less likely to get one.
“He and the team at the fire department looked closely at what the specs were, made sure that it worked for them, and he has been aggressive in letting the salesperson know that if any of them become available, we wanted to have a bite at the apple,” Connors said.
He continued that they are scraping together what’s available to get it done as quickly as possible.
“It’s a credit to the chief to answer the question directly,” Connors said.
Board Chair Katie Phelan asked, “Because it’s an opportunity that’s available to us, it doesn’t go through typical procurement?”
Connors said that they have the capital appropriation already.
“This is either we would order it and sort of pay on delivery, or this is an opportunity to short-circuit that weight,” he said.
Phelan also asked which truck this would replace, but Connors was unsure.
