Ukiah council approves urgent purchase and lease financing for two Type 1 fire engines

The Ukiah City Council on June 18 approved placing an urgency item on the agenda and authorized the city manager to proceed with financing to buy two Type 1 fire engines for the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority.

City staff told the council the engines are a rare opportunity: they are “stock” build slots that the manufacturer has made available and can be customized to match the department’s specifications. City Manager staff said typical lead times for custom-built Type 1 engines can be roughly 50 months, and locking in a stock unit now would protect the city from future price increases and long delivery delays.

Eric Singleton, Battalion Chief, said the engines identified through Golden State/Pierce would be comparable to the department’s current first-out apparatus and that three build slots briefly existed; one was already claimed by another city. Fleet maintenance supervisor Dave Kirsch described features the department wanted to retain — including the Cummins engine and a TAC4 independent suspension — and explained design differences that reduce some mechanical maintenance points (for example, placing ladders within the apparatus body rather than mounted on top).

Council members asked technical and financing questions. Staff said the two engines would be delivered in July 2026 and that the city would outfit them for service after delivery. The staff report included a financing plan to spread the cost over a 10-year lease-purchase; staff quoted an interest rate of about 4.926% and said the lease terms were chosen so the financing would not outlive the equipment’s useful life. The city manager said funds for the payments were anticipated in the adopted budget and that acquiring the stock units locked price and availability.

Council Member Chris moved to add the urgency item to the agenda; the motion received unanimous support of the four members present. Later in the meeting, the council moved and seconded the recommended action to authorize the purchase and financing; the motion passed on a roll-call vote with Council Member Chris, Council Member Orozco, Vice Mayor Schurr and Mayor Crane voting yes.

Why it matters: staff said the purchase would restore depth-of-bench in the fleet, preserving reserves that let the department rotate engines for maintenance and to surge for larger incidents. Council members and staff framed the decision as balancing budget timing and operational reliability: buying available stock units now avoids much longer waits and price uncertainty for custom production.

Details from the record:
• Lead time for custom Type 1 engines: about 50 months, per staff.
• Manufacturer: Pierce; three stock build slots identified, one already taken.
• Delivery to Ukiah (if purchased): July 2026, per staff presentation.
• Financing: 10-year lease-purchase; stated interest rate 4.926% in staff presentation.
• Rationale: lock price and spec now to avoid longer lead times and market-driven price increases; maintain reserves and reliability for first-response apparatus.

The council’s vote authorizes staff to finalize the municipal lease-purchase financing and proceed with the purchase as described in the staff report.