MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Monday night, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen Committee on Community Improvement recommended initiating a request for proposals for a new engine for the Manchester Fire Department before the start of the 2022/2023 Fiscal Year.
Manchester Central Fleet Services Director Jonathan Hopkins informed the committee that at some point the Fire Department will transition to electric-powered engines, but currently the city could buy three non-electric vehicles for the cost of an electric one.
Hopkins said that new tools and training for mechanics will also be needed when the city makes the eventual transition to electric vehicles for the fire department.
He added that grants are available for electric fire engines, but the grants are complicated and restrictive, and require the grantor to witness the drilling of a hole through the engine block of the old non-electric engine that the electric vehicle will replace.
The engine is expected to cost $650,000 and will utilize money from the city’s motorized equipment replacement fund.
Hopkins expects that the vehicle will take up to 300 days to manufacture and any delays in purchasing the vehicle could result in cost increases and delayed delivery time.
If approved by the full board of Mayor and Aldermen, the engine would replace Engine 9, which currently serves at the Calef Road Fire Station, which also received renovation funding earlier this year.
Engine 9, an E-One Cyclone II, was brought into service in 2008. That vehicle is the fifth one to bear the name of Engine 9 in the history of the Manchester Fire Department, following an E-One Cyclone I model purchased in 1987, a B Model Mack in 1958 and an Ahrens Fox Pumper that earned the title in 1932, three years after its initial purchase.
Later in the evening, the Committee on Accounts Enrollment and Revenue Administration did not meet due to a lack of a quorum and the Committee on Bills on Second Reading recommended two new ordinances that would put the hours of the city’s parks and playgrounds from sunrise to sunset.
Alderman Sebastian Sharonov (Ward 6) agreed with the new hours for playgrounds, but disagreed with the measure for the city’s parks, noting the earlier time of sunset during winter months and how that might impact the ability of city residents to enjoy local parks during the colder months.
