Albion seeks bids for new fire truck

ALBION – The Village Board voted on Wednesday to seek bids from manufacturers for a new fire truck that would replace two vehicles for the Albion Fire Department.

The department wants to replace a pumper from 1974 and a smaller truck used to respond to motor vehicle accidents. That truck from 2004 has extrication equipment.

The fire department wants a new fire truck that is a pumper and also has extrication equipment. That will save the department in maintenance costs and also reduce some manpower needs, fire department leaders told the Village Board on Wednesday.

“This will be an all-around truck,” said Harry Papponetti, a past chief for the AFD.

He outlined the plan during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. He handed the board a 160-page document with specifications for the new truck. The department won’t know the cost of the truck until bids come in, but Papponetti said he expects it will be about $500,000.

It will take about 8 months to a year for the truck to arrive once the board makes a decision on accepting a bid. That vote could happen in June.

The village wouldn’t have to start paying on the truck until the 2016-17 budget. By that time some existing debt for fire trucks will be reduced. The new debt payment will likely be less than what the village is currently paying, especially if the payments for the new truck are stretched over 10 years, said Steve Lanning, a member of the fire truck committee.

Papponetti said the department expects to get another decade of use out of a pumper from 1992 and a ladder truck from 1995. He praised the work of village mechanics, Dusty DeCarlo and Ray Smith, for giving the fire trucks such an extended life.

DeCarlo and Smith served on the truck committee along with Papponetti, Lanning, Dale Banker, Rocky Sidari, Jeremy Graham, Jeremy Babcock and Ron Armstrong.