WILTON – Fire Chief Sonny Dunham told selectmen Tuesday that one of the department’s pumper trucks, estimated to cost more than $200,000 to replace, is out of service.
Dunham wants to replace Engine 5, but selectmen and the Finance Committee did not recommend Dunham’s request for the town budget, which will be voted on in June.
Selectmen suggested trying to get an estimate on repairing the truck, but Dunham resisted.
According to a videotape of the meeting, the truck now has “four or five different problems” including front-end issues and wiring, Dunham said.
“They’re not just little bitty problems; everything’s bad,” he said. “I’m not just saying this for the heck of it,” he added. He also said it was unsafe to drive anywhere.
“So we’ll have it hauled,” Selectman Rodney Hall said.
“I feel like we’re getting backed into a corner here that says that we have one option and that’s to buy a new firetruck and that we can’t do anything with Engine 5,” Hall said.
“That’s exactly right,” Dunham replied.
Selectmen agreed they would like a second opinion before determining whether to recommend buying a new truck.
“We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Selectman Keith Swett said.
“There must be ways to approximate these things,” Town Manager Peter Nielsen suggested.
Nielsen and the fire chief agreed to come up with an estimate for repairs.
Dunham defended his volunteers when selectmen suggested firefighters may have acted inappropriately during last year’s Blueberry Festival. Selectmen told Dunham that firefighters on duty or in uniform were not to enter the Boiler Room restaurant or consume any alcohol during the festival.
There was “an unpleasant exchange” between the board and the fire chief, Chairman Jeff Rowe said Wednesday.
“It got pretty ugly, pretty personal,” agreed Nielsen on Wednesday.
Selectmen want to discuss the chief’s conduct in executive session at their next meeting. The chief can opt to have the matter discussed in public. Their next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, June 6, rather than Tuesday as regularly scheduled, because of elections that day.
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