FARMINGTON — Selectmen on Tuesday night approved of Farmington Fire Rescue Department getting bids to replace the 2010 Ford F-150 and spending up to $7,000 for a subframe and shipping costs for the Squad 1 truck.
“As we talked about in budget season, the pickup is just pretty much wore out at this point,” Fire Chief TD Hardy said. “It’s currently out of service.”
The department spent $3,600 for rust removal in 2019 and it’s rusting again, he said. Rust repair would be anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 and be a Band-Aid.
Estimates to replace it were about $50,000 during budget talks. Hardy wanted to get prices from dealers.
Selectmen approved using $6,000 from the Fire Rescue Equipment Reserve fund to purchase a new subframe for Squad 1 and up to $1,000 from that account for shipping costs.
“It’s not the truck subframe itself,” Hardy said. “When they built that kind of body, the plastic frame sits on the steel subframe. The two pieces that go down on the frame are built out of box tubing, probably should have been built out of angle iron and closed in. It got moisture in and rusted out.”
When Lt. Jon Alexander found the issue, it wasn’t to the point where the truck would be out of service but that part is too far gone to repair, Hardy said. Options were considered, with the best being to purchase the subframe from the truck manufacturer, he said.
The new subframe would be made of stainless steel.
Hardy originally considered using the equipment maintenance account but that would “pretty much blow it over without any repairs” for general things.
The manufacturer would install the subframe for $10,000 if the vehicle were sent there, but it would be gone four to six weeks, Hardy said. Alexander is confident he can install it in-house and have it done before winter, he said.
The cost of installation will be covered by the department’s operating budget, Hardy said.
The equipment reserve account has $276,107.78, he said.
In other business, selectmen voted not to accept the lone $2.46 million bid from Bowman Brothers Construction of Newport to replace the roof at the Farmington Community Center and put the project out to bid again.
Matthew Foster, director of Parks and Recreation, said it was significantly more than the $660,000 estimate received in 2021.
A lot of companies are busy and couldn’t meet the construction deadline, some didn’t realize they had to attend the prebid walk, he said. Steel is a bit more tricky to source now, he said.
Foster recommended putting the project out to bid in the next 30 days with the pre-bid walk three to four weeks after that. Bids would be due in September or October with the work to be done next summer, he said.
In February 2022, selectmen voted to use the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds for the roof replacement. At that time, the town was expected to receive $820,000, with $93,000 approved for employee hazard pay during the COVID-19 pandemic and $4,800 for an internet broadband study.
If the new quote is more than what’s left in ARPA funds, the project will be brought back to the selectmen and a special town meeting may be needed, Foster said.
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