Board approves four-year extensions for fire-apparatus contracts after questioning of financing process

The Board of Public Health and Safety on Sept. 2 voted to amend and adopt two contract-extension items that keep the city’s relationship with McQueen (dealer) and Pierce (manufacturer) for fire engines and ladder trucks.

Kennedy, the department purchasing manager, told the board the paperwork listed a two-year renewal but should read four years because long manufacturer lead times require multi-year ordering. Staff said turnaround for new apparatus has stretched to about four years since supply-chain disruptions and that continuing the dealer relationship helps the department keep priority production slots and warranty service. “The term of the contract renewal, it says 2 years, but it's supposed to be 4 years,” Kennedy said.

Board members repeatedly pressed for clarity about price caps and how purchases will be financed. Presenters said the pricing table in the packet contains pre-estimated prices that the vendor has agreed to hold for the contract term, but actual financing and payments for vehicle purchases are handled through a separate bond-bank or leasing process and therefore the presenting staff-level packet shows $0 as the NTE (not-to-exceed) amount. Chair Andrew Merkley summarized the practical effect: “If I'm understanding this correctly, I have a $0 NTE because there could be multiple purchases, and we don't know how many purchases IFD is gonna make,” he said.

Mark Harvey, a project manager with longstanding experience with the bond-bank process, told the board that historically the bond bank packages financing and that when staff seek to spend money on a financed purchase those requests have come back to the board for approval. “Anything that we spend, we bring it to this body and get your approval,” Harvey said, urging that staff confirm the current procedures in writing.

After discussion the board voted to amend both agenda items from two years to four years and then adopted the amended items by voice vote. Members requested that Dawn Sykes, the CFO referenced in the discussion, provide written confirmation of the purchase/lease approval workflow so the board has documentation of how financed purchases will be presented going forward.

The board did not set specific dollar amounts for future apparatus purchases at the meeting; staff said they would return with any purchase authorizations once financing and purchase orders are routed through the bond-bank process.