Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Spending $1.4 million, the city of Naperville will test two fire engines and two maintenance companies for the next 10 years.
Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said the plan will allow the department to see which engine better withstands the test of time and which maintenance company provides better service.
The city will compare a $565,300 Pierce engine the department has favored in the past with a $559,308 E-One engine with similar specifications. Global Emergency Products of Aurora will maintain the Pierce for an estimated $172,000 during the next 10 years, while Fire Service Inc., of Naperville, will service the E-One for an estimated $134,000.
Fire engines have been maintained by city mechanics in the fleet services division of public works, but the number of mechanics certified to work on fire engines is down from six in 2014 to three. Using maintenance companies that specialize in fire engines will decrease the wait of between 16 and 30 hours for city crews to conduct the work.
The new arrangement comes after the city planned to begin leasing an engine last year for $75,000, but never entered into a contract.
“The outright purchase of vehicles continues to be the best option for us financially,” Finance Director Rachel Mayer said, adding it will save an estimated $240,000 per engine throughout the life of the vehicle.
Contracting out the maintanence work also seems to be the best option for equipment reliability, Puknaitis said.
thanks Scott
