Crime & Safety

Eatontown Council Wants More Information Before Accepting New Fire Truck Bid

Lone bid for fire truck came $834,537

The Eatontown Council is going to wait for more information before awarding the lone bid it received to purchase a new fire truck for the Eatontown Fire Department.

The council did not pass a resolution during its meeting earlier this week that would have paid Pierce Manufacturing Inc. $834,537 for a Quint Type Fire Truck.

Borough Administrator George Jackson said a requirement for Pierce is to accept two of the borough's older fire trucks as trade-ins. Jackson said that while Pierce did accept the trade-in of the two trucks, that they did not tell the borough how much money was taken off the total price of the new fire truck after the trade-ins were figured into the $834,537 the borough is paying.

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"The council want the cost broken down, so I wrote a letter to (Pierce) asking for the actual value of the truck prior to the (trade-in)," Jackson said.

The fire department is trading in its 1989 Pierce pumper truck and its 1985 Pierce pumper truck to help offset the cost of the new truck.

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Jackson said the fire department is also not receiving all the equipment that usually comes with the new truck, because the decision was made to keep some of the equipment from the older trucks. Jackson said this savings was also not broken down by Pierce when the borough received the bid.

He said he expects to have the cost breakdown by the council's next regular meeting on Jan. 9, and that the council can vote on the resolution at that time if it chooses.

The new truck will be a quintuple combination pumper or quint-style apparatus that doubles as an engine and ladder truck.

The fire department's fleet of trucks currently consists of three fire engines, with the third purchased in 1996 and a ladder truck purchased in 2006.


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