HILLSBOROUGH: Fire equipment approval sought in special vote

$1 million in purchases would mean $50 one-time tax hit

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Hillsborough residents have two hours next Thursday, Aug. 21, to vote on a million-dollar request by the fire commissioners for equipment, including a $750,000 pumper for the Flagtown Fire Company.
The vote will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the municipal building on South Branch Road. Paper ballots will be used.
The commission needs voter approval of capital projects in 2014 before it can finish putting together its budget for 2015. Essentially voters are asked to approve exceeding the state cap of 2 percent on the budget of the fire commission.
As an example, a home valued at $250,000 pays about $82 a year in fire taxes. Voting yes to these questions will raise the fire tax on the same household about $50 for one year only.
The fire commission coordinates equipment and training needs among the three firehouses in the township and contracts with the Neshanic Fire Company for service in the western part of the township.
Voters can vote for all projects, or pick and choose the items on the ballot. Projects planned are:
A vehicle for the fire marshal’s office, not to exceed $50,000, from funds approved in 2014. The pickup with a walk-in box would carry special fire investigative equipment, included sealed specimen containers to carry samples and evidence for later analysis. Mr. Vatter said he believed the district intends to buy, at a substantial savings, a 10-year-old vehicle from neighboring Franklin Township.
A pickup truck for Fire Company No. 2, not to exceed $50,000. The company is retiring a 1989 brush truck. The new vehicle would be a four-wheel-drive, crew cab pickup and would be dedicated for newly formed fire police work by carrying traffic cones and barriers to close roads and manage traffic during emergencies. The police relies on this fire unit for initial road closures, Mr. Vatter said.
This vehicle will also be used to transport firefighters to training, too.
Fire pagers that alerted volunteers of a fire call or other emergency, not to exceed $45,000. Since Somerset County has gone to new dispatching system, the township has found its current pagers don’t work well on the current narrow frequency band, Mr. Vatter said.
This year, the fire district bought 35 at $450 each, Mr. Vatter said, by re-prioritizing purchases and downsizing budgeted items. These funds will be used to complete the replacement of the fire pagers.
An email to township firefighters said, "The Board of Fire Commissioners was made aware of volunteers missing calls that were not activating the older pagers. The conversion to the modern pagers has solved this issue. These funds will complete the replacement project."
Vehicle exhaust ventilation system for all three fire companies’ buildings, not to exceed $160,000.
Current systems in firehouses filter and scrub contaminated air and exhaust in the buildings, Mr. Vatter said, but tighter OSHA standards will mean replacing the system with one that would attach a hose to idling vehicles. When the vehicle exits the building, the hose would automatically decouple, Mr. Vatter said.
A replacement pumper for Fire Company No. 1, at $750,000. This would replace a pumper, that has a minimum 1,250-gallon-per-minute pump and carry 750 gallons of water. The vehicle would become a part of a rapid response team standing by in case of the need for firefighter extrication, Mr. Vatter said.
Fire Commissioner Charles Nuara said the board is seeking to replace the 20-year-old pumper for the Flagtown company a year ahead of its normal schedule because it was incurring repair expenses that might be better put toward buying a new vehicle.
Mr. Vatter said the commission annually takes some of its tax dollars and puts it into an equipment replacement account, above and beyond the operating budget. The 2 percent cap is taking up more and more dollars for operating needs — like insurance, tools, fuel and turnout gear (at $2,500 per person) — and limiting the amount of money that the commission can put into a rainy-day savings account for future large purchases, he said.
Mr. Vatter said the commission was looking ahead to the near future when its capital purchase account, which is used to buy equipment without bonding, is due to be tapped heavily in the near future. The district faces replacing engine and ladder trucks for Fire Company No. 2, at a cost of perhaps $1.5 million, in addition to the Flagtown pumper proposed this year.