Gonzales purchases new Pierce Enforcer pumper truck

Christmas may have already come and gone, but the Gonzales Fire Department is waiting on one special present to be delivered to the city.

After receiving unanimous approval at the November Gonzales City Council meeting, GFD last month ordered a new Pierce Enforcer pumper fire truck from Siddons-Martin Emergency Group. Time of delivery is expected to be between 29-30 months from the date of order. 

The new fire truck will replace Engine 37, a 2008 Pierce Sabor, which has seen increased maintenance costs and liability — and has even caught fire not once, but twice, causing it to have to be towed to San Antonio for repairs.

“The engine has to be taken to the shop for repairs several times a year, leaving the Fire Department short on fire engines,” City Manager Tim Crow and Fire Chief Wade Zella told council members in a request for funding. “The repairs are extremely costly and more than $100k has been spent for repairs since 2016. 

“This engine is unreliable and as stated the repairs have become an ongoing extremely costly expense. This particular engine takes up a majority of the maintenance to vehicles line item within the budget annually.”

The new pumper is being purchased through the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) Purchasing Program for a total cost of $853.093. The purchase will be financed through the Government Capital Corporation at 4.895-percent interest over the course of eight years at a cost of $132,202.75 per year.

The city had originally approved the purchase at their Oct. 13 council meeting with annual payments of $129,760.54, but GCC was unable to fund the purchase at that time before the 30-day lock on interest expired. However, they were able to lock in the interest rate this November, albeit for an additional annual amount of $2,442.21.

Payments will officially begin on the new vehicle one year from the contract signing with Siddons and annually thereafter for seven more years.