Modesto council committee backs $5.9M deal for fire engines, ladder trucks

A City Council committee has endorsed a Fire Department proposal for Modesto to spend $5.9 million over 10 years to lease five fire engines and two ladder trucks, which fire officials say will help the department upgrade its aging fleet.

Effective Government Committee members and council members Jenny Kenoyer, Bill Zoslocki and Kristi Ah You voted 3-0 on Monday to forward the proposal to the seven-member council for approval. The council is expected to consider this matter in December.

The proposal calls for Modesto to lease Pierce Manufacturing Inc. engines and trucks. PNC Equipment Finance would purchase the equipment for the city from Pierce and lease it to the city for $598,538 annually over 10 years. Modesto could purchase all of the equipment at the end of the lease by paying $954,214, bringing the total cost to $6.9 million.

Fire Chief Sean Slamon said Modesto would need to take $598,538 from its general fund for the first lease payment. He said the remaining payments would be funded through savings from reduced maintenance costs, proceeds from selling older equipment, and money that will become available once Modesto pays off the lease for two other engines it recently purchased.

All of the city’s fire engines and ladder trucks are from Pierce. Slamon said the city has used Pierce for 27 years. He said there is a benefit in having a standardized fleet. Modesto did not go out to bid for this proposal, instead relying on competitive bidding performed by the Houston-Galveston Council of Governments.

But officials with Modesto-based Burton’s Fire Inc. – a local dealer for Rosenbauer, one of Pierce’s competitors – say the city could not know whether it was getting the best deal without putting it out to bid. That point was repeated Monday.

“We feel like we deserved an opportunity to provide a bid,” company co-owner John Burton told committee members.

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Modesto council committee backs $5.9M deal for fire engines, ladder trucks."