Outfitting a fire department is a costly service as evident by recent Board of Aldermen action in the city of Owensville.

Aldermen in December awarded a $146,150 bid to Fire Master Fire Equipment, Inc., Springfield, Mo., to provide members of the all-volunteer Owensville Fire Department with 25 sets of new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) tanks, extra bottles, and face masks.

Chief Scott Stranghoener presented aldermen with a list of six vendors, of which five submitted bids, for the SCBA gear ranging from $137,570 to $164,040. A sixth did not bid the SCBA equipment but did submit a quote for a compressor unit which was awarded separately at a cost of $35,856.67 to Banner Fire. Five of the six vendors submitted quotes for the compressor and fill station which ranged from $18,757 to $47,932.

While the winning bid was higher than the apparent low bid ($137,370), Stranghoener explained a closer review revealed an added value.

The base price looked to be $9,000 higher, the chief told aldermen at their Dec. 16 meeting. Stranghoener told aldermen, however, that when they added together all the items they’d be receiving with the bid quote, the value of the equipment was actually worth $19,000 more than the base bid.

Stranghoener told aldermen the bidding process included three quotes from area sales representatives all quoting the same product. While that is typically not a common occurrence, it was allowed by this particular product line.

“It was a better option at a cheaper price,” Stranghoener told aldermen of the equipment committee’s recommendation to accept the Fire Master bid.

Fortunately, the local fire department was the recipient in 2018 of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant of $183,731 for the purchase of the new breathing apparatus. There is a 5-percent match which the city is responsible for paying. The city’s portion of the cost is $8,749.10. That portion is being paid for by the Owensville Rural Fire Protective Association (see related story).

The Owensville Rural Fire Protective Association, which collects membership dues outside the city limits of Owensville, is scheduled to contribute up to $8,800 toward the city’s portion of the 5-percent grant match.

The SCBA equipment being replaced is nearly 20 years old, fire officers told aldermen in October when they went out for bids.

Leather boot bid awarded

In November, aldermen awarded a $3,240 bid to MacQueen Equipment for 10 pairs of leather boots for members of the fire service. The department had previously purchased boots from the firm.

The purchase was planned for in the city’s 2019-20 fiscal year budget. The department bought 10 new sets of boots in 2018.

Firemen will also have a new, used, brush truck to help with natural cover fires in 2020. A used truck which is being assigned to Station No. 2 in Mt. Sterling was acquired from a fire service in the state of California for $19,000. Cost of the unit will be shared by the city and the rural fire association.

Jeff Arnold, the department’s assistant chief and director of emergency services for the city, told aldermen at their Oct. 21 meeting the cost of the brush truck would be split between the city and the rural fire association. The rural group had pledged $12,000 for the new truck. Aldermen that evening agreed to contribute $10,000 in budgeted funds from the truck reserve allocation.

Aldermen at that October meeting also authorized fire department officers to go ahead with $7,860 for rebuilding a tanker truck’s pump. Fire Master Fire Equipment was awarded the repair contract after no bids were received in the publicly advertised period where quotes were sought.

Some other expenses incurred in 2019 included a $7,950 roof repair project on Station No. 3 in Owensville. Aldermen awarded the work to Rudy’s Roofing of Linn in September.

Roof repairs at two of the department’s stations cost $17,000 in the past year, according to the rural association’s report being released in January.