Salem seeks loan to pay for equipment for Salem Fire & Rescue

SALEM - The Salem City Council is scrambling to apply for a loan to pay for new breathing apparatuses they approved to purchase for Salem Fire & Rescue in April.

Haylee Stecker, city clerk, said that the council has to have a public hearing within 10 to 21 days from publishing a Public Notice before they are able to take out a loan. The council scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, June 18, at 5:30 p.m.

Stecker said she put the item on the city council's agenda for Tuesday, June 4, because the council needs to look at how they are going to pay for the equipment for Fire & Rescue.

'It's going to be coming in soon, and we need to pay for it,” Stecker said. 'If we need to go to the bank and get a loan for it, we need to have a public hearing.”

The city council discussed how much money the city has in their Local Option and street funds. Stecker said there should be $70,000 in Local Option, but because of deficits, the account only has $30,000. The street fund has maybe $1,000, she said.

'Basically our only option is to get a loan,” said Chris Feehan, city council member.

The city council approved spending $58,900 to purchase 17 self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs) on Tuesday, April 4, during a special meeting.

The equipment was purchased from Sandry Fire Supply. The city council had to make a decision by Monday, April 8, at noon to purchase the equipment along with the City of Davenport, which provided a cost savings of about $4,000.

Mary Hoyer, city council member, said in April that the city has no options for paying for the equipment out of pocket as the city has negative fund balances in the general fund and the fire department's fund.

The current breathing gear used by Salem Fire & Rescue is over 15 years old and many of the safety features don't work anymore. The old breathing equipment will expire in July and the department will no longer be able to use them, which is why the council decided to move forward with the sudden purchase of the new equipment.

The gear is used by firefighters when in a smoke-filled environment, including entering burning homes.