Preparing bid
specifications for a complicated piece of equipment likely to cost half a
million dollars or more requires a nit-picking sort of attention to detail.
So it’s got to be
frustrating when the lowest bidders on that piece of equipment were
the lowest only because they listed as optional certain features designated
in the specs as required.
For that reason,
Chesterton Fire Chief John Jarka urged the Town Council at its meeting
Monday night to reject all seven bids on the CFD’s new engine, with the idea
of re-writing the specs from scratch.
Members accordingly
voted unanimously to reject the bids and release the bid bonds.
“When you start
adding up everything you need, you’re already up to your price,” noted
Member Emerson DeLaney, R-5th, the council’s liaison to the CFD. “There are
some things that can be trimmed. We don’t need all the bells and whistles.”
“It makes sense to
spend the money carefully,” agreed Member Jim Ton, R-1st. “So let’s do it
over again.”
The best bid was on
a demo model priced at $329,800. But as Jarka observed in a memo to the
council, the demo lacks multiple features, all need by the CFD: a foam
system, tool and EMS storage compartments, a Federal Q siren, an on-board
generator, and a light tower. It’s also equipped with a 1,250
gallon-per-minute pump, when the spec was for a 1,500 gpm pump; and a 380
horsepower engine, when the spec was for a 400 hp engine.
Signal Update
In other business,
Town Engineer Mark O’Dell reported that work on the upgraded traffic signal
at the intersection of Indian Boundary Road and North Calumet Road is
continuing.
The new signal has
been installed, O’Dell said, along with the posts and mast arms. The general
contractor is now waiting for NIPSCO to provide an electrical service point,
at which time service which will be switched from the old signal to the new
one.
Street Commissioner
John Schnadenberg did say that he’s currently exploring options for new
low-maintenance landscaping options for the traffic island.
The upgraded signal
is being funded with an 80/20 grant, in the amount of $223,578, from the
Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. Project specs include a
new LED signal, a new controller box, new conduit wiring below ground, a
battery backup system, and decorative posts and mast arms.
The Bucket Truck
Meanwhile,
Schnadenberg announced that the Street Department’s bucket truck will be out
of service for some time, after an engine failure common to this 2003
International model--antifreeze leaking into the oil--materialized.
The cost of repair:
$6,000.
The Street
Department bought the bucket truck used from a Wisconsin company several
years ago and it has since proved a valuable addition to the fleet.
The Chesterton
Police Department will observe National Police Week with a ceremony at 4:30
p.m. Thursday, May 14, in front of the station at Broadway and Eighth
Street.
The public is
invited.
The ceremony will
be followed by an inspection of officers and their squad cars.
Then, at 6 p.m.,
the Police Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting.
In 1962, President
Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as Officers Memorial Day and the week of May 15 as
National Police Week, to honor and remember the men and women in law
enforcement who gave their lives in the line of duty.