Oak Park Village Board has approved the purchased of a new aerial ladder fire truck for $825,202.
Oak Park will buy the 2013 E-One Cyclone aerial ladder truck with rear-mounting 95-toot ladder from Fire Service, Inc., of St. John, Ind., through a lease agreement with FirstMerit Bank. The village will pay up to 3.5 percent interest.
Six bidders responded to Oak Park’s request for proposals, but four were unable to meet the size requirements necessary to get the truck under 14 north-south underpasses with low minimum heights, Fire Chief Thomas Ebsen said.
“One of our goals was to ensure the ladder truck could fit under all the viaducts,” he said. “We do not want to have delayed response time ever. It was a challenge because many larger apparatuses have gotten higher over the years.”
Fire officials expect to receive about $80,000 in trade for a ladder truck and up to $179,229 in assistance from the foreign fire insurance fund, a tax on out-of-state insurance companies that sell fire insurance in Oak Park.
For paying the full price up front, Oak Park will receive a $29,000 reduction in the price, bringing the price down to $795,294, Ebsen said.
After help from the insurance fund and trade-in allowance, the village will pay $536,065, Ebsen said.
The board’s offer to contribute funds to the purchase is a “wonderful sign of collaboration and partnership,” Trustee Ray Johnson said.
Unlike River Forest, Oak Park was not able to apply for a federal grant to buy the truck, Ebsen said. Since River Forest did not own the truck it previously shared with Oak Park, they qualified for a grant to buy one, he said.
For more information, view oakpark.suntimes.com