LOWER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — Lower Saucon Township is getting in line for a new fire apparatus.
Township Council on Dec. 6 unanimously approved starting the process of acquiring a 2028 Pierce Enforcer pumper tanker at a total price tag of $1,394,172.
But that won’t be paid all at once.
The lead time to acquire such a machine currently is 50-56 months.
Capts. Bryan Evans and Scott Krycia of the volunteer-based Lower Saucon Fire Rescue said its 20-year-old tanker at the Southeastern Station at Wassergrass Road still is in good shape, but an apparatus study recommends it’s about time to be replaced.
Evans said supply chain issues and other factors would mean the anticipated delivery of the new truck would take years, not including any potential hiccups — such as annual price bumps — that could happen in the meantime if the vote didn’t go through that night.
“As we look at the big picture as part of the potential station consolidation plan — and as we look now that the merger with Steel City is complete and we have one fire company serving the township — that this will ultimately allow us to help produce the size of the fleet."Lower Saucon Fire Rescue Capt. Bryan Evans
“As we look at the big picture as part of the potential station consolidation plan — and as we look now that the merger with Steel City is complete and we have one fire company serving the township — that this will ultimately allow us to help produce the size of the fleet,” Evans said.
“In full transparency, that won’t be tomorrow. We need to have these other vehicles come in to replace them, and that will happen over time.”
Krycia said the department just recently got Federal Emergency Management Agency grant-allotted radios that originally were set to arrive in January.
“We used to be able to get turnout gear in what, eight weeks?" Krycia said. "Now it’s taking eight months. It’s just across the board with everything that we use for firefighting now.”
Can the fire services fund handle it?
Councilman Thomas Carocci, who is council’s fire services liaison, said it was due time for the township to “get in line” considering the potential yearslong wait for the truck.
He asked township Assistant Manager and Finance Director Cathy Gorman for an exact amount on the fire fund.
Gorman said it was sitting at $1.33 million, and later said the proposed budget had some money set aside in case officials decided to put a down payment on the new vehicle.
She also confirmed that the township will have two more payments on a ladder truck, totaling $268,626.70.
Officials estimate $330,000 per year more in fire services tax money to come in over the next four years at the current set rate, totaling a potential $1.32 million.
“I think we try to definitely take advantage of the chassis discount when we come to that, because that’s a couple years away and we’ll have time to rebuild the fund. I do like the [early pay] discount, but I just don’t think we’re in a position right now.”Lower Saucon Township Manager Mark Hudson
Fire leadership said there’s no money necessarily due at signing, but there are a number of financing options and potential discounts.
Township Manager Mark Hudson said if the $678,712 chassis is paid 90 days prior to the truck’s final inspection, there’s a discount available of more than $20,000.
And if the “contract price” is paid in full within 30 days of accepting the purchase order, the township would get a discount of more than $185,000.
“I think we try to definitely take advantage of the chassis discount when we come to that, because that’s a couple years away and we’ll have time to rebuild the fund,” Hudson said.
“I do like the [early pay] discount, but I just don’t think we’re in a position right now.”
“It would probably wipe us out,” Gorman said in response to Hudson's latter comment. “It would leave us with limited resources for anything else that might be needed in an emergency.”
An example of one of those expenses, as Gorman said later in the meeting, involved council approving a new set of tires for one of the rescue engines in the amount of $5,234.50.
Council ultimately agreed with the comments from Hudson and Gorman, and moved to pursue the chassis discount.
A township asset
Carocci also emphasized the need for the township to hold the title of the incoming vehicle.
“In previous times when we paid for 75% of the truck, we’ve had no ownership interest, taxpayers have had no ownership interest in that truck, even though they paid for 75% of that — and I don’t think that’s right,” Carocci said.
“If we’re going to pay 100%, we need to have title of the truck as a township asset because township taxpayers pay for it.”Lower Saucon Township Councilman Thomas Carocci
“If we’re going to pay 100%, we need to have title of the truck as a township asset because township taxpayers pay for it.”
Officials later clarified that besides one engine in the current fire fleet, the rest of the vehicles have been 75% paid for by the township.
Council President Jason Banonis said that amid discussions of creating a $14.8 million new, central fire services facility at Polk Valley, moving to place any new vehicles in the township’s name is important when looking ahead.
Resident Anne Marie Crown said she witnessed a fire a few years back with “billowing black smoke” about a half-mile from her home.
Crown said she was proud of the local response time, and she gave a shout out to the mutual aid that arrived from beyond the township.
“It made me feel that Lower Saucon Township is not alone,” Crown said. “We are part of a much greater community.
“I watched trucks come from townships [that] I didn’t even know the names. I believe there was one that even came from New Jersey.”
