Chicopee City Council approves most of Kos’ spending plan

Date: 10/23/2014

CHICOPEE – Mayor Richard Kos wasted no time in asking for the items that will be paid for the newly created $3 million capital stabilization fund capital budgeting purposes.

In response the City Council approved all of his requests with the exception of one: tablets for themselves.

Kos asked the council to approve the following purchases: $500,000 for a new fire pumper; $132,000 for four unmarked police cruisers; $120,000 for three SUV cruisers; $60,000 for a maintenance vehicle with a plow; $40,435 for emergency management equipment; $40,000 for a deputy fire chief’s vehicle; $40,000 to replace the city’s website; $26,550 for desktop computers for the Police Department; $20,000 to pay for an improved alarm system for the Bellamy Middle School; $20,000 to pay for an improved alarm system for Fairview Veterans Middle School; $10,000 for tablets for the City Council; and $3,450 for improvements to a city computer server.

Councilor Frank LaFlamme made a motion to send the request for the tablets to the Finance Committee to examine the costs of the purchase and to establish a policy for the use of the tablets.

“I want to see the savings,” Laflamme said, referring to the elimination of the paper and copying costs of the thick packet of information that accompanies each council meeting.

Councilor Shane Brooks said for him content filtering is the biggest issue – how the tablets are used and what websites the councilors can and can got to while using the city-issued devices.

Councilor Adam Lamontage said the School Committee has used tablets to replace the use of paper and save money.

The motion to send it to committee for more discussion was defeated with the councilors split evenly. Brooks then pushed for some sort of meeting to discuss the policy. Upon a successful reconsider vote, the council voted to send it to the Finance Committee.

Kos noted during his briefing prior to the meeting that a year is needed for a pumper to be delivered after the order has been made. Fire Chief Stephen Burkott said the pumper to be replaced is a 1991 model. Councilor James Tillotson asked about a business in New Hampshire that rebuilds fire trucks. Burkott said the department did try that in the 1980s and found the costs prohibitive. A rebuild would not extend the vehicle’s life long enough to have a return on the investment, the chief added.

The city received a new pumper this week, which Burkott said has a stainless steel body in order to have a longer life.

Police Chief William Jebb said the cruisers to be replaced are from 2005 and are not in good shape. Tillotson referred to an issue of Consumer Reports and questioned if the city would actually buy the cruisers – Ford Explorers – at the price of $40,000. Kos assured him the price is correct.

Tillotson also questioned if the city could save money by buying vehicles from local dealers. He was told the lowest prices are in the purchasing pool the city uses.