NORWICH OPENS BIDS FOR FIVE FIRETRUCKS

Norwich — Six companies submitted bids on one or more of the five new firetrucks for four volunteer departments Norwich voters approved a year ago.

Voters in November 2017 approved $3.2 million in bonding to purchase the five firetrucks. Bids were opened Monday.

Only New England Fire Equipment & Apparatus Corp. of North Haven submitted bids for all five trucks, ranging in price from $375,888 for a heavy squad truck for the Taftville Volunteer Fire Department to $714,342 for a pumper/tanker for East Great Plain Volunteer Fire Department.

Rosenbauer America bid $25,000 for communications equipment on each of the five trucks.

Two companies bid on only one truck. Deep South Firetrucks Inc. of Seminary, Miss., bid $390,500 for the Laurel Hill Volunteer Fire Department pumper/ tanker, and Emergency Vehicles Inc. of Lake Park, Fla., bid $347,886 for the Taftville heavy squad truck.

C&S Specialty Inc. of North Smithfield, R.I., bid on four of the trucks, leaving out the Taftville heavy squad vehicle. Prices ranged from $449,914 for the Laurel Hill pumper/tanker to $724,873 for the East Great Plain pumper/tanker.

Firematic of Rocky Hill submitted bids for two trucks, $705,855 for the Taftville pumper and $723,785 for a Yantic Fire Engine Co. pumper truck.

City Manager John Salomone said before even looking at the bid prices, the committees from the volunteer fire departments that decided on specifications for each truck will review the bids in detail to make sure they meet those specifications.

Salomone said it could take up to a year to receive the specific trucks, because most have to be constructed specifically “from the ground up.”

“We got a fair amount of bidders, so we’re happy about that,” Salomone said.

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