By Jo C. Goode
The Herald News
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Designing and building nearly $5 million worth of fire equipment can be a long process.
The Fall River Fire Department is working on specifications and requests for bids for six new fire trucks after a loan to the city by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in August.
Provisional Fire Chief John Lynch said three committees are working on designing the specs for three pumpers, two ladder trucks and a heavy rescue truck. A Chevrolet Tahoe truck and other fire equipment will also be purchased through the loan.
Lynch said equipment will be ordered in two stages.
The first round of request for proposals for competitive bids should be ready for publication by mid-October, Lynch said.
The loan program is funded through the HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program. Community Development Agency Director Michael Dion applied for the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program at the administration’s request in April and will be underwritten and paid back with annual CDA funding.
CDA will repay the loan over a 20-year period.
The fire department is waiting on the completion of a separate engine truck that the City Council approved through a bond approved last year.
Delivery was expected in December from the company Ferrara Fire Apparatus based in Louisiana. Devastating floods in that area caused the delay; many workers were affected by the flooding.
Lynch said he expects the new apparatus will be delivered in February.
New and badly needed breathing equipment that was also part of the bond was delivered to the fire departments in the spring.
Due to HUD guidelines that require the equipment be assigned to stations in low-income neighborhoods, the apparatus will be housed in the Globe, Candeias, Flint and Central stations.
The ladder truck, through bonding, was the first piece of equipment purchased by city funds in nearly two decades.
Lynch, a candidate to be the city’s permanent fire chief, has said that if he is selected to head the department, one of his goals is to have an equipment replacement plan in place within the next five years.
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Copyright 2016 The Herald News