East Hampton Fire Department Chief Gerard Turza Jr. appealed to the village board on Friday for approximately $4.5 million, to replace an aging fleet of vehicles and other equipment.
"I'll be very brief — I need some fire trucks," said Mr. Turza. In November, he had listed the department's needs, including the purchase of a new tower ladder truck, hose truck, and chiefs' vehicles, and asked that they be included in the village's five-year capital plan. Since then, the need has become more dire, he said, due to a surge in the number of alarms. Because of the pandemic, the department is running "nonstop," resulting in excessive wear and tear on the vehicles.
The tower ladder truck, which Chief Turza has described as "a critical piece of equipment," had been in need of repair and out of service from November to mid-March, he told the board. Apart from the village's real estate holdings, the truck is its largest capital asset, he said, and the cost of purchasing a new state-of-the-art one would be about $1.8 million. A new hose truck to replace one that is nearly 25 years old would cost close to $800,000, and a replacement for a brush truck that the department has had since 1968 would be $395,000.
In 2012, when Mr. Turza was a lieutenant in charge of the heavy rescue company, he'd asked the village to replace a dilapidated heavy rescue truck, he said, but that truck is still part of the fleet.
The fire department is also seeking a new fire engine to station permanently at the Northwest Substation. At the moment, they are rotating an engine between there and the village. The cost for a fully-equipped engine would be $823,482.
The vehicle he uses himself to respond to calls broke down over the Fourth of July weekend, the chief said, and the ones used by the first and second assistant chiefs are also on their last legs.
The department also needs a boat, he said, because, right now, it has no capabilities for a water evacuation, and it needs an air-filling station for breathing-apparatus tanks, which would cost a little over $82,000.
Superintendent of Public Works David Collins told the board that his department needs to replace three small dump trucks and one large one, and to purchase two more pickup trucks, at a cost of $108,000.
Billy Hajek, the village planner, provided the board with an update on an ongoing analysis of the stormwater pipe that runs along Cove Hollow Road from Route 114 to Georgica Cove. The 7,000-foot-long pipe, which was constructed in 1930, has several deficiencies, he said. It is filling up with sediment, it has been punctured by tree roots and utility lines, and the concrete is porous. The pipe is located in both the village and town jurisdictions, and the two municipalities have been working together to come up with solutions for preventing stormwater from entering it and impacting Georgica Cove. They are also planning to develop a bioswale at the cove to provide natural filtration of the stormwater.
Also on Friday, the village board approved a notice to bidders for the renovation of the tennis courts and ball fields in Herrick Park. In a unanimous vote, they also turned down a proposal to create three parking spaces on the south side of Fithian Lane (adjacent to London Jewelers), after hearing neighboring residents describe the already-dangerous traffic conditions there.
