Clinton Public Safety Director Anthony Davis speaks to City Council during the Capital Improvement Plan workshop, while Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton waits his turn at the lecturn.
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
A ladder truck for the Clinton Fire Department, with an estimated $2 million price, was one of the big ticket items mulled by Clinton’s City Council during ongoing talks with staff about needs that should be placed in the city’s 2025-26 capital improvement plans (CIP).
Continuing from the initial CIP workshop meeting where plans were covered on the city’s proposed capital projects for water and sewer funds (See the Feb. 12 edition of The Sampson Independent for details), City Manager James Duncan broke down the current general fund CIP, including short-term, current and future projects/grants.
General fund considerations were at the forefront of Duncan’s presentation. When planning for projects, debt capacity was key, something he said was crucial in impacting the current and future operating budgets. Inflation was also another major factor.
“The ideal general fund balance we want to maintain is between 35 and 40 percent of our excess assigned to capital use,” the city manager explained. “Right now we’re at $4.9 million unassigned and $1.7 million for capital use.”
Duncan said the projects city staff will be looking at for year one include a couple pieces of rescue equipment “which are some struts ($22,000) and extrication ($82,500),” Duncan said on their general fund short-term projects. In addition, he pointed out, there are a couple of ground mowers needing replacement ($32,000) and a vehicle for recreation admin ($30,000).
“Again, there’s the four police vehicle replacements ($230,000) we have every year that’s been in the budget for a while, and there’s the street resurfacing ($250,000). The biggest thing that would need to be discussed will be a ladder truck ($2 million). That $2 million might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but it’s not very much of an exaggeration.”
The current ladder truck was purchased in 2013; the attached ladder is from 1976, but both, Public Safety Director Anthony Davis stressed, were long past their expiration date.
“We didn’t have anything with our apparatuses and equipment that was on what we call a rotational basis,” Davis told Council during the recent workshop. “That said, we now have a ladder truck that’s basically failing and at the end of its life.
“We spoke to some outside, third parties that don’t have any ties to companies or equipment, and got their recommendations on a couple trucks we’ve looked into, which would be what’s needed for Clinton,” he added. “It would be built for our needs here, and so we got a price tag back around one design, and it was about $1.95 (million); that’s what we’re looking at. So like it was said, I wouldn’t exaggerate $2 million by the time we get everything speced out.”
Even with the dire need, Duncan pointed out that it would take at least four years to get the truck.
“Before we get into any details, I have to say, no matter what decisions get made now about a ladder truck, we’re looking at four years before it gets delivered to us,” he said. “And with the current truck already being 11 years old, once that four years goes, then the truck will have lasted for 15 years. That said, the current truck is on its cycle to be replaced. If it lasts 15 years, we did all right.”
Davis pointed out the steadily rising prices of parts, which, he noted, can potentially increase $65,000 to $75,000 monthly.
“In a perfect world, they told us 40 to 42 months,” Davis stressed about a new truck’s delivery. “Even if we ordered one today, we couldn’t expect delivery before 40 months. So again, you’re looking at four years out, if the current truck can reach the finish line and get that far.”
Council members asked how and why there was a 1976 ladder on a 2013 truck, but Davis said he was unsure of the answer.
“I have no idea,” he answered. “We tried to look up maintenance records and stuff and it was a new chassis, but it had a ‘76 ladder around back. So currently there’s no safety features. That means you’re looking from the chassis to cab back, it’s all 1976. The hydraulics, the levers, everything is 1976, so if something goes down, we’re basically trying to go to the graveyard to find a part for it.”
Mayor Lew Starling said the turnaround time was the biggest concern.
“What’s unusual about these vehicles is, if we allocate money for a car today, you can go down the street and get one,” Starling pointed out. “If we allocate money for something of this nature, however, it takes a lot of time, and that’s why we are having this discussion.
“The only thing that I would say to that is, we want to be certain when we put this in the budget,” he said. “We don’t have a salesperson telling us what we need, but a third party person, and I shared that with them. That said, I think everyone is on the same page about us needing to move forward on this”
In brief talks beyond the ladder truck, council members touched on street resurfacing. Public Works Director Chris Medlin said he was pursuing other repair options.
“I actually have a meeting scheduled to look at other sources of treating roads versus just always repaving,” he said. “I got a guy coming and we’re going to look for various scenarios where maybe we could actually do something besides just resurfacing.”
Before ending the workshop, Council talked about the continuation of the downtown revitalization project approved last year as way to help generate growth in Downtown Clinton. The project has entered Phase 4 and includes deliberations on potentially building a new $500,000 stage, which the city is hoping to fund, at least in part, with grant funding.
Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.