Medina mayor wants to sell ladder truck soon, with minimum price nearly $2 million
Provided photo: This photo from December shows Medina’s new ladder truck. The quint truck has a 100-foot ladder and many other capabilities. Medina Fire Department officials visited the truck manufacturing site in Appleton, Wisconsin.
MEDINA – Village officials will soon be putting together a package for prospective buyers of Medina’s new ladder truck.
A new administration on the Village Board, led by new mayor Debbie Padoleski, wants the ladder truck sold soon.
The truck is currently in Tonawanda where is waiting for a part, the cover for a metal box for tools. The truck hasn’t been put into service and the letters haven’t been put on that says it is a Village of Medina Fire Department truck.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Mayor Debbie Padoleski said she wants the village to push to sell the new ladder truck. Trustee Mark Prawel is at right.
“I’m hoping we can move forward with a sale,” Padoleski told other Village Board members during Monday’s board workshop meeting. “I want to keep this ball moving.”
Before she was mayor, Padoleski was on the board as a village trustee. She led a majority that included Mark Prawel and Scott Bieliski to vote on Feb. 9 and declare the truck surplus and begin the process for selling it.
Padoleski campaigned that the truck is unaffordable for the village. Besides buying the truck at $1.7 million, Medina would likely need to put an addition on its fire hall to house the truck. The current fire hall only has 10-foot, 6-inch clearance. The new truck can’t fit in the fire hall.
The truck with the addition could put the village on the hook for up to $4 million, Padoleski has said.
She wants to sell the truck at a minimum bid to pay off the loan, which is close to $1.8 million. The first of 20 payments at $139,225 is due in the village’s 2026-27 budget. That budget needs to be approved by the end of the month.
The Village Board needs to determine a minimum bid for the truck because there could be other costs, including a broker’s fee. The board could settle at a $1.9 minimum, Padoleski said.
The truck is expected to be back in Medina today. The village will take photographs of the truck, and prepare precise specifications for interested buyers. The potential bidders will likely want to come see the truck in person.
The mayor, who took office last week, said the truck could be sold through a sealed bid or an RFP (Request for Proposals).
Trustee Scott Bieliski said many fire departments have shown interest in the truck, including nearby Brockport and departments in other states. The village could sell the truck for more than $2 million, making a profit on the sale. Similar new ladder trucks are now $2.4 million at the time of the order with a wait from the manufacturer that could be three to four years.
Bieliski said Medina could work out a deal with Brockport and avoid needing a broker. A broker would charge a 1 percent fee and likely make about $20,000.
Village attorney Matt brooks said the Village Board is obligated to try to maximize the sale price. That could mean utilizing the services of a broker.
Bieliski said he would work to put together a bid package and reach out to brokers to help with the potential sale. In the meantime, the truck is expected to be stored in the DPW facility when it’s back in Medina.
