Council Considers New Rescue Trucks Friday

WARWICK, RI — The City’s in dire need of three new rescue trucks, but Greenwood Emergency Vehicles in North Attleboro will hold three till Monday, so the City Council will meet Friday, 5 p.m., to vote on the $888,722 purchase.

City Council President Stephen McAllister said Mayor Frank Picozzi made an agreement with the supplier to hold the trucks long enough for them to make a quick purchase,  solving Warwick’s reliance on the unreliable rescue fleet. The situation has often prompted Warwick to borrow from East Greenwich and Cranston. But such vehicles are in high demand, and the waiting time for delivery is up to a year.

“So we had to do the meeting Friday,” said Warwick City Council President Stephen McAllister. “The Mayor will be presenting this bid to the council on Friday himself. I give the Mayor a lot of credit. Since this is an emergency he could have purchased these rescues without the council but he feels it is important the Council and the residents of the City have all the information on why we are buying them at this time. If we were to go through the regular process it could take over a year for delivery. So we called a special meeting. Public safety is a top priority for the entire council and the Mayor,” McAllister said.

The situation was underlined this weekend when a WFD rescue broke down while  trying to bring a resident to the hospital, McAllister said.

“The time is well past due to buy new reliable trucks,” he said.

“The proposed contract says “30 days” from the date of 4/5/21, so, I would imagine that the quick Council meeting is to ensure that the Administration has enough time to move forward with the closing after it receives authority from the Council,” said City Councilman Jeremy Rix.

According to a memo on the issue from WFD Chief Peter McMichael, the unreliability of the current rescue trucks makes the situation urgent.

Also, “There is currently a twelve month wait for delivery of rescue vehicles from the time of order, which has caused a large demand for in-stock units. Greenwood Emergency Vehicles has two units available for delivery in June and one in July. I have performed extensive research on the rescue units and have had discussions with the repair division an d have determined that it is in the best interest of the City to claim the two units to secure and expedite the delivery,” McMichael said.

The special meeting will be held via zoom teleconference:

You may access or participate in the meeting using the Zoom Application on a smart device or on a PC via the Web at zoom.us and clicking on JOIN A MEETING in the upper right of the page. Webinar ID: 978 8786 9794.