OCEAN CITY — A plan to get more longevity out of the Ocean City Fire Department’s apparatus was approved this week along with a detail schematic on how to fund replacements in the long-term.
Last year, after a couple of unanticipated expenditures for fire department apparatus repairs, the Mayor and Council instructed Chief Richie Bowers and his staff to conduct a detailed study of the department’s fleet of apparatus and come up with a plan for how to replace it over the next few years. On Tuesday, Bowers presented the plan, which has been extended from five years to 10 to the Mayor and Council.
“Our leadership met last year to look at the plan,” he said. “That was something the council asked us to do. We made some significant adjustments in terms of the length of service for some of the apparatus. We had a five-year plan, but it extended it out to 10 years.”
For some of the larger vehicles, such as fire engines and tower trucks, Bowers said tough decisions were made about getting more life out of them.
“There are some concerns about the availability of parts, but I believe, based on conversations with my contacts in manufacturing, we can sustain this over that five to 10-year period at least,” he said.
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You know that is a lie. Fire trucks can last 35 and 45 years easily and many are still in service in many volunteer fire companies. The “parts” excuse is just that, a damn excuse they tell city and county council members because they know the council members are too stupid and too lazy to investigate that on their own.
Wouldn’t you want to ride around in a new truck all the time if someone else is buying it for you?? That’s what the hell these paid firemen do to the elected morons in Salisbury and Ocean City.
“We made some decisions as an executive team to delay the purchase of engines and towers for an additional five years,” he said. “As a result, the engines will be replaced at 20 years instead of 15 years, and the towers will be replaced at 25 years instead of 20 years.”
Someone needs to show this to Jake Day, Jack Heath, and Manure Bota and show them they don’t have to replace fire trucks every 10 years or less. John Tull, Darren Scott, and Jimmy Gladwell need to be fired for stealing from the taxpayers like they’ve been doing Rick Hoppes should have never been promoted to Chief and he should have been fired for selling the council members a bunch of lies about the longevity of their fire engines. Theives, all of them paid firemen are thieves!
Maybe the public could be provided with the specific criteria for
when a FD asset needs replacement so the anger and confusion
doesn’t flare every time the FD wants more money for replacements.
A better informed public makes for smoother government.
Even paying to have a hard to get part can be cost effective. “We can’t get the part” should be followed by a trip to a machine shop for a quote.