Firetruck purchase approved

Portland will get a new firetruck.

Portland Board of Works approved the purchase of a new tanker truck for the fire department during its meeting Thursday. At a cost of more than half a million dollars, the new truck will replace a two-and-a-half-decade-old vehicle.

Fire Chief Mike Weitzel, who also presented the purchase request to the city council on Monday, told the board that the current tanker has been in service since 2001. Tanker trucks are used to transport large volumes of water to fire scenes.

Weitzel presented two quotes for the truck:

•$558,442 from Spencer Fire Trucks of Michigan

•$491,037 from Toyne Fire Apparatus of Iowa

The Spencer quote includes hoses and nozzles while the Toyne quote does not, because that company currently does not handle the manufacturer that Portland Fire Department uses. The hoses would cost about an additional $24,000.

He noted that a third quote came in significantly higher and was therefore taken out of consideration.

Though the cost was higher, Weitzel said the committee formed to study the purchase recommended buying from Spencer. He explained that the Spencer truck has a more traditional pump design that the committee preferred.

Board of works member Steve McIntosh agreed that the truck from Spencer seemed more user-friendly. He also noted the difference in delivery time — 540 days from Spencer compared to 775 days from Toyne.

Board of works members Jerry Leonhard, Mayor Jeff Westlake and McIntosh approved the purchase from Spencer. The chassis will be paid for when Spencer receives it, with the remainder of the balance coming due when the fire department receives the truck.

Delivery of the new truck is expected in mid-2027. Weitzel noted that he is hopeful that the existing tanker truck can be used by one of the other fire departments in the county.

The city last purchased a new ladder truck in 2021 for $1.2 million.

Also Thursday, clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips asked about the status of a proposed agreement with Ritter Strategic Services to lead a feasibility study about the possibility of combining emergency responder dispatching at Jay County Sheriff’s Office. She questioned why the issue was not on the agenda for the meeting and asked if a committee had been formed.

Portland City Council voted on unanimously Dec. 1 to move forward with a process to explore consolidating the dispatching of emergency responders. The council has discussed the issue multiple times since September, saying then that such a change would make sense to be handled in conjunction with a countywide project to upgrade radio equipment for emergency responders.

Westlake said he planned to have Ritter attend the Feb. 5 board of works meeting and wanted to do that first before signing a contract for a study or forming a committee.

Leonhard said he feels there are a lot of unanswered questions about potential consolidation, with Phillips responding that the study is intended to provide those answers.

McIntosh said he thinks it makes sense to partner, saying it could streamline dispatching. He suggested that the board of works could hold a special meeting with Ritter this month instead of waiting until February.

Westlake said he would contact Ritter to check his availability for a meeting in January.

Westlake also reappointed McIntosh and Leonhard to the board of works for 2026.

In other business, the board:

•Approved a $1,370,835 pay request from James Jackson Company of Bluffton for work completed on the construction of a wet weather pump station at the wastewater treatment facility. Answering a question from Leonhard, Phillips said there is still $6.4 million outstanding on the $13.73 million project. (Substantial completion of the work is expected in October.)

•Wrote off outstanding debt more than two years old totaling $768 and checks more than two years old totaling $748.16.

•OK’d a right-of-way agreement with Brightspeed for a street cut on Main Street between Commerce and Ship streets to install a fiberoptic line.