Mansfield City Council considered appropriating $143,750 to the Fire Operations Capital Outlay for the purpose of two new fueling stations for the Mansfield Fire Department, but ultimately the decision was delayed to allow more time to discuss finances.
Two bills on the council’s agenda, Bill 14-204 and Bill 14-208, addressed the needs of the Fire Department. Bill 14-204 would appropriate $143,750 from the unappropriated Safety Service Fund (#214) to the Fire Operations Capital Outlay Classification for the purchase of capital items, and declaring an emergency. Bill 14-208 would authorize the Safety-Service Director to purchase above-ground fueling systems for two of the Fire Stations in Mansfield, to be paid from the proper funds as established by the annual appropriations Ordinances.
Council heard from Assistant Chief Jim Bishop of the Mansfield Fire Department at their Tuesday evening council meeting, while Bishop voiced a need for two new fueling stations at Station One on East Third Street and Station Four at South Main Street. Bishop explained the new fueling stations would reduce travel time for engines needing to refuel at the BP stations on Trimble Road and North Main Street.
“The city of Mansfield used to have a fuel station down at the city garage years ago, but the tanks started leaking,” said Bishop. “Since then we’ve been going around getting contracts every couple of years. We’ve been talking about this for years; we won’t have to worry about driving across town.”
Bishop explained that adding the new fueling stations would save the department approximately $5,200 per year in fuel miles per gallon due to traveling across town for fuel. He added it would take approximately 15 years for the city to recoup the cost of the $143,750 for the stations.
Councilmember Ellen Haring noted that the two fueling stations were not on the original needs list for the Mansfield Fire Department, and pointed out the department does have an existing list of future capital expenditures.
“How are you going to fund future capital expenditures if you spend this money this year on the fueling stations?” she asked. “It makes me wonder why this all of a sudden moved to the top of the priority list.”
“It’s something that we’ve needed, and something that for the last five or six years, due to financial difficulty, is something we couldn’t even bring up,” said Bishop. “It seemed like the right thing to do at this time.”
City Engineer Bob Bianchi addressed Haring’s concerns. Though the department would save $5,200 in fuel costs, there would still be a fee to deliver diesel fuel to the fueling stations.
“The way you purchase gas for these fueling stations is different, so it’s comparing apples to oranges,” said Bianchi. “Communities are moving towards fueling stations, and there are communities that competitively bid for the purchase of gasoline to fill up these tanks. When we go to a retailer, we are paying for that service, pumps, air conditioning, everything.”
Haring also noted previous conversations regarding the fueling stations and stated the need for the stations was “because (the departments) don’t want to be held hostage during a crisis to get fuel, (they) need to be able to get fuel whenever (they) can and there’s been some problem lately filling up at gas stations.”
“The need has changed from ‘being held hostage’ to ‘look at the money we’ll save because we don’t have to drive so far,’” said Haring. “It keeps changing and council needs to be aware of these discussions.”
“That is another issue,” said Bishop. “We did run into problems last month when no one could get fuel in the city. If there were a major problem that night, we would’ve been out of service. If we have a flooding issue and North Main is closed down, we’re out of service. If there’s another issue at Trimble Road, we’re out of luck.”
Councilmember Walden Jefferson suggested the issue be taken back to the Finance Committee and further discussed to quell the concerns of council. He voiced his support of the new fueling stations.
“It sounds like a good deal to me. You have the fueling station there, that eliminates travel, and buying in bulk you usually do get a cut rate,” said Jefferson. “It looks like a win-win to me. It would be a lot more convenient having it there when you need fuel than running across town to get it. I don’t see why we can’t go forward if you’ve cleared it through your supervision.”
At the suggestion of Haring, council unanimously moved that Bill 14-204 and Bill 14-208 be given an additional reading. Councilmember Jon Van Harlingen also said he liked the concept and idea of adding two new fueling stations. What he questioned was the timing of the funding.
“I am concerned since we have finally moved out of fiscal emergency that we don’t back step,” said Van Harlingen. “My number one concern is to hang on to the employees we have and provide them with the equipment for the job they were hired to do. If this proceeds to go further, which I hope it does, I will ask about the age of the equipment and what we’re looking at to replace in the future.
“I want to emphasize, it sounds good,” he continued. “I don’t like the timing. I’m concerned about the immediate near future. I don’t see the money disappearing if we don’t do anything tonight.”
“The city of Mansfield used to have a fuel station down at the city garage years ago, but the tanks started leaking,” said Chief Bishop. “Since then we’ve been going around getting contracts every couple of years. We’ve been talking about this for years; we won’t have to worry about driving across town.”
