Sept. 17--A contentious discussion between Decatur Fire Department Chief Darwin Clark and two City Council members ultimately resulted in a 4-1 approval of Clark's request to buy a fire truck from the only bidder.
The debate was about a 2003 fire truck that Clark wanted the city to buy. Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus, of Oak Grove, submitted the sole bid, which offered the truck to the city for $204,500, less a trade-in deduction of $37,500 for three older Decatur fire trucks.
Councilman Billy Jackson cast the sole dissenting vote.
"Council people generally don't like surprises," Councilman Charles Kirby said to Clark after the chief formally proposed at the City Council's Monday meeting that the council accept Brindlee's bid. "They can handle things that aren't popular, as long as it isn't a surprise. I was a little dismayed to find out from a newspaper article that the truck was at one of our stations."
Clark, who said he had to borrow a truck because others had mechanical problems, said he did not understand the criticism.
"I didn't want to come to the mayor and say, 'Let's pick which stations we're going to close today,' " Clark said. "We can stop today. We can make a council decision on which station to close next time we don't have a fire truck. Is that where we're headed?"
A Decatur Daily story Sunday said the Brindlee truck had been at the Decatur Fire and Rescue's Station 7 for more than a month before the bids were advertised. The bid specifications described the truck in the department's possession almost exactly, including year, mileage, engine hours and weight. Brindlee submitted the only bid, and it was for the truck parked at Station 7.
Kirby said he could imagine many justifications for having the truck before bids were advertised, but he thought the council should have been informed.
Kirby said despite his concerns, his main question was whether the city was getting a good deal on the 2003 Brindlee fire truck.
"We really don't know whether we're getting the best deal or not," responded Jackson, because it was the sole bid. "We have no reference point."
Clark said he felt the bid specs were broad enough to attract more than one bidder, although he said he knew the Brindlee truck at Station 7 met the specs. He said a requirement that a warranty service center be available within 100 miles of Decatur was especially broad, because Brindlee's service center -- 40 miles away -- was not the only vendor that could comply. The bid specs also called for engine hours of about 5,000; the Brindlee truck in Station 7 had 4,988. It called for mileage of about 65,000; the Brindlee truck had 59,299.
Clark said he thought the main reason no other vendors submitted a bid was that they did not want to offer a trade-in deduction for Decatur's three older trucks, all of which had mechanical problems.
The chief said bidding would attract more sellers if the city were buying a new truck. The city is buying used, partly because of cost, Clark said, but also because many new trucks have mechanical problems related to compliance with federal emissions standards. He said exceptions to those standards will not go into effect until next year.
The city recently purchased a new truck from Decatur-based NAFECO. Clark said it has been out of commission eight of the 12 months the city has owned it.
Jackson said his concern was bid specifications too narrow for competition.
"The specs were based on that particular truck," Jackson said.
Clark interrupted him.
"As fire chief my job is to keep the fire stations open," Clark said. "NAFECO doesn't have a loaner truck. Nobody will give me a loaner truck. Brindlee gave us a loaner truck. As it so happened, we kept this truck to use."
Councilman Chuck Ard said Friday he worried the single bid from the same dealer that loaned the truck to the Fire Department created a perception that the bid was unfair. Jackson reiterated the point at Monday's meeting.
"The whole thing just seems suspect," Jackson said. "The (bid) specs are exactly the specs of the vehicle. It appears we were looking at buying that particular vehicle."
"Appearances are not always right," Clark shot back. "I've been at this 34 years, and everybody knows I'm above board."
Clark said anybody could have submitted a bid.
"They could have bid a $600,000 fire truck," he said, and met the minimum bid specifications.
Jackson said the minimum bid specs likely were to dictate who won the bid -- and in this case to determine the sole bidder -- because the city had to select the lowest bid from a responsible bidder who met the bid specs.
"Everybody had a chance to look at (the bid specifications)," Clark said, including the city Purchasing Department and the city attorney. "It's not like this is something the fire chief just controls."
Jackson said his concern was broader than one truck.
"This is not the bidding process we should have," Jackson said. "The specs should be open enough that others can bid. We had one bid on this, and it was the truck that was sitting in the station."
After the meeting, Jackson asked Mayor Don Kyle to initiate an independent investigation into the bidding process for the Brindlee truck. Kyle did not respond.
Eric Fleischauer can be reached at 256-340-2435 or [email protected].
Copyright 2013 - The Decatur Daily, Ala.
