Palatine To Use Stimulus Funds To Buy Fire Truck, Replace Emergency Service Laptops

Palatine Village Council voted unanimously on Jan. 10 to use around $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) stimulus funding to buy a replacement platform fire truck and replace 50 emergency services in-vehicle computers with tablets.

The purchase is in line with village plans to use the ARPA funding for one of the purposes allowed under federal law: replacing public safety assets. Both purchases are replacing equipment that’s more than a decade old, and using ARPA funds will allow the village to use capital funding for other purposes. Furthermore, the fire truck replacement came under budget, allowing the village to redirect $72,000 in ARPA funding for other eligible purposes.

According to a village staff report, the new fire truck will replace the 2008 Pierce Quint. Both are larger platform trucks with ladders that can rotate 360 degrees. The village allocated $1.35 million in ARPA funds to purchase it. While only one company, Aurora-based MacQueen Emergency, submitted a bid, it came in below the budgeted amount, at $1,278,000.

The village is also using  $243,695.68 in ARPA funds to replace 50 laptops that are integrated into police and firefighter vehicles. According to the staff report, Palatine purchased those laptops in 2013, and the manufacturer no longer supports those laptop models, making parts harder to replace.

This time around, the village decided to purchase 14-inch tablets to avoid the ongoing issues with the hinges. They would also work better than the laptops they’re replacing. The contract also includes new docks and modems.

The Mesa, AZ-based Ensemble Solutions Group not only submitted the lowest bid, but the village determined that their equipment would best fit the departments’ needs. 

Village Manager Reid Ottesen told the council that the village has been looking to replace the laptops “for several years,” and ARPA funds allowed them to do that.

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