Central Fire approves purchasing policy

Purchases of over $5,000 will require at least three price quotes to be sought under a new policy passed by the Central Fire and EMS board last week in the wake of a controversy over breathing apparatus selected by firefighters without first seeking additional offers.

Board chairman Larry Oehmichen introduced the purchasing policy at the board’s June 19 meeting and said it was a word-forword reflection of the state’s advisory guidelines for all public entities, including municipalities and school districts.

According to the policy, which was approved unanimously by the seven-member board after a couple of revisions, non-budgeted purchases over $5,000 up to $25,000 will require three quotes or bids with a 30day notice, and purchases from $25,000 to $100,000 will also require three quotes or bids, but with a 60-day notice.

Exceptions to this procurement process will be made for emergency situations – “when there is a threat to public health, safety or welfare, or when a state of emergency has been declared,” the policy states.

As always, any purchases of $100,000 or more will require approval by two-thirds of the municipalities within the district, as measured by equalized property values.

The original draft of the policy said that all non-budgeted purchases over $5,000 would require a two-thirds majority vote of the board itself, but Abbotsford Mayor Jim Weix successfully lobbied to have that changed to a simple majority vote. As a result, purchases up to $100,000 can be authorized with four members of the board voting yes, as opposed to five yes votes required with a two-thirds rule.

Oehmichen said he was OK with Weix’s suggestion, but he said the original intent of the two-thirds requirement was to set a higher bar for larger purchases that are not included in the budget.

“I understand what you’re saying, Larry,” Weix said in response. “I’m not doubting your judgement one bit. But, if we need a two-thirds approval vote, that needs to be taken back to the municipalities.”

Board members also discussed whether it was realistic to expect three different quotes on every larger purchase, since some types of equipment are only sold by one or two vendors.

“It’s going to be difficult to get three bids on a lot of stuff,” said town of Holton representative Pat Tischendorf.

District chief Joe Mueller said he has no problem trying to get three price quotes for larger items, but he also wondered whether the 60-day notice for purchases over $25,000 was workable, since most price quotes expire before then.

“Nobody wants to give you a price that’s good for more than 30 days,” he said.

Oehmichen clarified that the 60-day notice requirement was meant as a timeline for Mueller, as the district chief, to present quotes to the board.

City of Colby Ald. Todd Schmidt suggested that the policy be rewritten to state that the procurement process will require the “solicitation” of three or more bids or quotes, rather than mandating that minimum number. The rest of the board agreed to that revision.

Before the board voted, however, Tischendorf questioned whether the policy was really needed, since he believes the firefighters and EMTs have traditionally done a good job of picking out the equipment they need and bringing it to the board for approval.

“It almost seems like we’re trying to restrict some of this a little bit,” he said. “They know this stuff. The trouble is a lot of us don’t know this stuff. I don’t. I think it’s fair to say that, so far, they’ve been really decent about bringing stuff to us.” Oehmichen, however, said the price on self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) dropped by $188,000 after he insisted that the firefighters get more than just the one quote from Mac-Queen Equipment for MSA-brand SCBAs. He and Tischendorf went back and forth on whether the district really needed to get additional quotes in order to lower the price, but Mueller said they did end up getting a $21,000 upgrade for free.

“I would agree with you, Larry, that we got a better deal,” he said.

Mueller said there was some miscommunication about the SCBAs that led him to only looking at quotes for MSA-brand packs, since the district already had air bottles from that company.

“Normally I do go out and get three bids, and I understand the way that works,” he said. “Because we had already bought the bottles, we thought we were just stuck that one way, but it worked out. It was worth the hassle.”

In a related matter, because the purchase of new SCBAs for $278,783 was not included in this year’s district budget, Oehmichen said the district is at risk of running out of money in its checking account before the end of the year.

“You guys are going to have to figure out where we’re going to come up with the money,” he said.

Mueller said he was willing to wait until later this year before ordering new turnout gear, which was included as a $32,000 line item in this year’s budget, to see where the finances are at.

In the meantime, the board voted to transfer $150,000 from the district’s money market account into checking to make sure it has enough money on hand to meet expenses.

“I would say that by October we’ll have a good idea on where we’re at, if we can make it to the end of the year or not,” Oehmichen said.

Other business

■ The board appointed Colby Ald. Todd Schmidt as the district’s new treasurer, replacing Nancy O’Brien, who recently moved out of Colby and is no longer eligible to serve on the board.

■ After it was discovered that the district did not have a lease agreement on record for Station 3 in Dorchester, the board voted to approve one that matches the terms of the other fire hall lease agreements. District secretary Carol Staab said the district had failed to pay its annual $1,000 rent for Station 3 for five years, so the board also voted to pay the village of Dorchester and towns of Holton and Mayville $5,000 in back rent.

■ During his monthly report, Mueller said the district responded to four fire calls and 64 EMS calls through June 19, including a fatal accident on June 13 that claimed the life of a teenager. He said that call was really hard on the crew who responded, which included classmates of the victim, so he and others are making sure they’re doing OK.

“I’ve seen people, after they go through their first fatality, that’s it, they’re done,” he said. “I hope they stick with it. We get those tough calls – they don’t happen all that often – but we do get them.”