Roy: I Will Ask Selectmen, Finance Board To Replace Failing Equipment

On Aug. 28, Hurricane Irene delivered much destruction to the Town of Seymour as well as the rest of the State of Connecticut. 

While the Emergency Management Team, the Fire, Police, and Ambulance and Public Works personnel all worked together to insure the safety of the residents, many much needed improvements and equipment upgrades are necessary to insure the ability to be able to react to future emergencies. 

The hurricane taxed the equipment and the town facilities to the point where had the storm been much stronger they would not have been adequate.

The roof on the Public Works building leaks to the point that the equipment, the interior walls, ceilings and fixtures are being damaged. 

During the Hurricane three portable radios were damaged by water and are no longer usable. Several light fixtures have water dripping through them and the ceiling tiles are falling. The roof can no longer be ignored and must be replaced.

Also at the Public Works, the bucket loader and at least one truck need to be replaced. One truck is so old that parts are not readily available. It is almost to the point that it will not be able to be repaired because of the unavailability of parts. 

The body of the bucket loader is deteriorating and soon may not be able to be used. This is a very integral piece of equipment at the Public Works facility and needs to be replaced.
The Rescue Truck at Citizen’s Hose House is also in need of replacement. 

This vehicle goes out to every call that the fire department answers. 

The vehicle is no longer practical because of its shortcomings. The truck only carries four firefighters and equipment on the truck is not as readily available for use as it would be on a new truck. 

The lighting equipment is outdated and several of the doors on the equipment storage area do not work well. 

Each firehouse needs one of these vehicles because to share this type of truck could result in delays to help injured people. Emergency response times would be drastically longer if there were only one rescue truck for the entire town.

The most important piece of equipment that needs to be replaced is the communications center at the Police Department. This unit is more than twenty years old and parts for this piece of equipment are very difficult to find. 

There have been instances when the equipment has failed and fortunately was able to be patched together to keep the Town safe. 

The Town cannot afford interruptions in service in the single most important piece of Emergency Service equipment that the Town owns.

I believe that the leaders of the Town of Seymour need to make the decision to replace our broken and worn out equipment. 

I will ask the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance to do so. 

This decision will cost the Town as little as one tenth of a mill. 

The writer is running for re-election as Seymour First Selectman.

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