Regardless of what you think about Webster City’s new speed cameras on U.S. Highway 20 and Iowa Highway 17, they have quickly become a valuable source of income to Webster City.
With estimated revenues of $131,500 per month, the cameras will put more than a million dollars into the city’s coffers this fiscal year. That’s more than the projected cost of a new pumper engine, approved for purchase Monday by the City Council of Webster City.
The newest addition to the Webster City Fire Department’s fleet is a Pierce Enforcer Top Mount pumper. It’s made in Appleton, Wisconsin, by Pierce Manufacturing Inc., a firm dating back to 1913. Pierce has shipped fire trucks across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and to more than 50 countries worldwide. The new pumper is an established, proven model, with technology and features that represent a substantial upgrade to the fire department’s overall capability.
With safety of its firefighters always a top consideration, the Enforcer will bring enhanced safety to the Webster City force, including a fully-enclosed cab, seatbelts, pressure-governed pumps and airbags. A cast aluminum frame provides more strength and better protection in a rollover accident: Just about the worst-case scenario.
Webster City Fire Chief Chuck Stansfield has clearly identified the need for a new pumper in his annual strategic plan for a number of years, but funds have never been available to buy it.
Speed cameras changed all that. With an average age of 27 years, WCFD’s fleet is at least seven years older than the maximum age for active firefighting apparatus recommended by the National Fire Protection Association. Still, by “buying good equipment and maintaining it carefully, we expect a 30-year life from all our fire trucks,” Stansfield said.
The new truck will replace the department’s current pumper, engine No. 32, which entered service in 1999. Although it remains fully capable after 33 years of use, the risks for failure of the present engine, perhaps at a critical time, increase every year.
The projected cost of the new pumper is $952,211. If the city pays for the engine at the time of delivery, a sizeable cash discount of $116,048 is available, and effectively reduces the actual purchase price to $836,463.
There is an additional incentive to order the new pumper now: A lead-time of 36 months is in effect, meaning the new engine won’t join the fleet until sometime in mid-2027.
Using speed camera proceeds for such a large purchase is unprecedented in Webster City.
Councilman Matt McKinney voiced the opinion: “We always assumed the money would be used as much as possible to benefit public safety.”
Councilwoman Abbie Hansen added: “We used some of the funds earlier this year in buying a new police vehicle.”
Councilman Logan Welch wanted the council to consider using the funds for uses other than public safety, including road maintenance.
Readers may not be familiar with how the city buys technical, expensive equipment like the new pumper. The order for the new engine would actually be placed with Reliant Fire Apparatus, Inc., Slinger, Wisconsin, likening the purchase of the fire truck to that of a new car, Pierce as the manufacturer, and Reliant the dealer. Reliant has the facility and technical staff to administer the complicated warranties covering the new pumper, and make repairs as required.
A key partner in the purchasing process is Sourcewell, Staples, Minnesota. A self-sustaining government entity, organized as a co-operative by the state of Minnesota, Sourcewell helps municipalities buy capital equipment of all kinds through co-operative, collaborative, purchasing at competitive prices. Webster City is a member of Sourcewell, a privilege which is free.
Stansfield and his department have been prepared to buy the new truck for several years.
“There are 13 fire department staff members on our pumper committee. We met regularly to document things we liked about our present equipment, and put forward things we’d like to see in a new engine,” he recently told The Daily Freeman Journal. “Sourcewell has our detailed specifications (which run to 13 pages) for the new engine, so we’re assured of getting exactly what we need, and have been planning for in the new pumper,” noted Stansfield. With the present lead-times before delivery, the value of having a completed specification, ready-to-go at any time, is immediately apparent.
U.S. drivers kill 20 pedestrians a day. Nearly all such accidents involve speeding. The approaches to Webster City’s speed cameras have clear warning signs to reduce speed. Unless and until drivers really do slow down, the city has many uses for the extra income the cameras bring in.
View this article as it originally appeared in the Daily Freeman-Journal.
Last modified: June 4, 2024
