Out with the old, in with the new. Well, in about a year.

The Sedona Fire District Governing Board approved the purchase of a new fire engine during its June 15 meeting.

Chief Kris Kazian said staff created a committee of employees that represented fleet services and operations to review options for replacing the engine. The committee spent six months evaluating vehicle options and performance of the new fire engine purchased for Station No. 1 two years ago.

The results of the committee review found the same style fire engine as at Station No. 1 would perform well in the Station No. 3 response area and the adjoining response areas of Stations No. 6 in the Chapel area and Station No. 4 in Uptown.

Station No. 3, located in the Village of Oak Creek, has a 2004 structure fire engine with 71,172 miles. Once the new engine arrives, the current one will stay in commission but will be used as a backup when needed.

This is an expense of $584,636 in the fiscal year 2017 budget. Staff recommended the cash prepayment option that includes $32,764 in discounts for the total of $584,636. Delivery of the new fire engine will be 12 to 14 months from the signing of the contract.

“I believe if we’re going to pay the money anyway, we might as well pay it up front and save $32,000,” Kazian said. “Those are hard dollars — and not just a few bucks.”

Board member Dave Soto said the cost could have been much higher if the district was not outfitting the new truck with existing equipment.

“The thing we have to remember is, this is just the cost of the apparatus itself,” he said. “We do have equipment for it. It does get expensive. If we were buying a brand new apparatus and buying all the equipment for it, it would be double that price.”

The manufacturer is Pierce Manufacturing in Wisconsin. Pierce has a joint purchasing agreement with the city of Mesa allowing other jurisdictions to purchase from the city of Mesa contract. Assistant Chief Jeff Piechura said that by piggy-backing on the Mesa contract is saving the SFD just under $15,000.

Board Changes

The board voted in a new member to replace Diane Schoen, who stepped down last month. Abe Koniarsky joins Ty Montgomery, Corrie Cooperman, Soto and Tim Ernster. He was one of four who applied for the position and will be sworn in during SFD’s July meeting.

Soto and Ernster were appointed late last year. Their positions are up for election this year. If the two run unopposed, it will save the district $60,000 in election costs.