SC City's Bill to Secure New Apparatus Soars $1.2M

Nov. 22—The town of Hilton Head Island will have to spend roughly $1.2 million more than it had initially expected to replace its aging fleet of fire trucks.

The town had originally planned to buy eight new pumper trucks and two new quint vehicles — ladder trucks that also can pump water like fire engines — for about $6.2 million during fiscal year 2022, records show.

Now, though, the island's Town Council has given staff members the go-ahead to spend $7.4 million on the project.

"I'm a little disappointed" about the cost increase, Fire Rescue Chief Brad Tadlock said.

What happened?

Tadlock and John Troyer, the town's finance director, briefed council members on the situation last week.

The town bid out the new trucks after the fiscal year 2022 budget was approved in June. The budget included $6.2 million for the Fire Rescue fleet replacement.

But the town quickly realized that because of supply chain issues in the nation's pandemic-weary economy, the availability of fire trucks was "under pressure," records show.

The bid prices exceeded the budgeted funds, Troyer confirmed in a memo to Ward 5 representative Tom Lennox, chair of the Town Council's finance committee.

"The global supply chain has been disrupted," Troyer wrote. "Material prices are up significantly. Suppliers are hesitant in this environment to make commitments for fixed prices."

The economy is "crazy," he said in an interview.

The United States is facing a nationwide staffing crunch, a coronavirus-battered supply chain and shortages of products ranging from computer chips to toilet paper.

The town eventually decided that Safe Industries, a Pickens County-based equipment supplier for fire departments, had the best bid price — roughly $7.4 million.

But that still was about $1.2 million more than the town had originally budgeted.

Safe Industries agreed to hold its bid price only until Dec. 1, Troyer added, because additional price increases were expected in the market.

So the Town Council ultimately voted 7-0 last Tuesday to authorize Town Manager Marc Orlando to enter into a purchase agreement with Safe Industries to secure its $7.4 million price.

Why is Hilton Head replacing its fire trucks?

Tadlock, the town's fire chief, told council members that the current Fire Rescue trucks will be 14 years old next fall.

The town had originally planned to replace its fleet in 2017 or 2018, Tadlock said, but due to Hurricane Matthew's devastation, decided to postpone the costly project, "obviously not knowing a pandemic was coming."

Typically, fire departments of Hilton Head's size will replace their trucks after 10 to 15 years of use, Tadlock said in an interview.

That's because of the immense amount of wear and tear on Fire Rescue vehicles.

As trucks get older, their maintenance becomes more of a hassle and their electronic equipment falls out of date, among other things, Tadlock said.

The current Hilton Head fleet's technology, for example, was designed in 2005 or 2006, Tadlock said.

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