Due to a 40-month delay in Fire Pumper Apparatus vehicle production caused by pandemic-related disruptions, we seek approval to allocate $3,466,698.87 from the FY2027 Fleet Asset Management fund budget to place an early order for the replacement of Fire Department Pumper units 993, 994, and 995 in the current fiscal year. This proactive approach offers several advantages:
 

• Significantly reduce purchase costs
• Lock in pricing to prevent inevitable cost increases in the three years it will take the vendor to build these three units.
• Eliminate maintenance costs related to extending life of the old Fire Apparatuses.
• Eliminate increased downtime related to extending life of the old Fire Apparatuses.

Approve budget amendments and authorize expenditure of funds from the Fleet Asset Management fund earmarked for FY2027 in FY2024 to place an early order for the replacement of Fire Apparatus units 993, 994, and 995. (Kevin Devery, Fleet Superintendent)

Authorizing the prepayment and early ordering of replacement Fire Apparatus (Units 993, 994, and 995) at a total cost of $3,466,698.87 will result in approximately $470K in city savings through pre-payment discounts. These replacements are part of the approved FY2024-2028 5-year Capital Improvement Plan and are expected to be delivered in FY2027, with funding sourced from the Fleet Asset Management Fund. Any proceeds from the sale or trade-in of existing vehicles will be reinvested in the fleet asset management fund. Sufficient funds currently exist in the Fleet Asset Management Fund to accommodate this pre-payment.

Units 993, 994, and 995 are 2018 Spartan fire apparatus pumpers, currently part of our 10-year Asset Management Plan with a scheduled replacement in FY2027. The manufacturer recently informed us that their delivery schedule is increasing from the typical 12-15 months to 36-48 months due to supply chain and labor issues. These issues will compound the increase in total purchase costs of the units as time passes toward FY2027. Waiting until FY2027 to place an order will result in having to keep the current units over 3 years past their lifecycle which will result in higher operational costs and increased downtime of the units.

By utilizing an advanced timeline to mitigate the extended lead times, the city will realize a total cost savings of approximately $470K in pre-payment discounts for all three fire trucks.

Due to the increased delivery schedule and pending price increase, we recommend pre-paying for these three pumpers in FY2024 so they will arrive as planned in FY2027. Once replaced, Units 993, 994, and 995 will be traded in or sold at auction, and the proceeds from the auction will be deposited into the fleet asset management fund.