ATHOL – The Capital Program Committee will meet Wednesday to try to come up with a way to get the Fire Department the new tanker requested by Fire Chief Jeff Parker.

Parker has asked the committee to recommend $650,000 in funding for the vehicle.

At a meeting on March 12, Parker told the committee his department has operated without a tanker for about 15 years, further explaining that “half of our town is outside the fire hydrant district. We’re often requesting tankers from other towns. It’s fine if they’re available, but it certainly does cause a delay.”

He also said a tanker would be valuable in battling electric vehicle fires, which take much more water to extinguish than a traditional car or truck fire.

At its meeting last Wednesday, March 19, the CPC discussed options for funding the tanker but asked that Parker and Town Manager Shaun Suhoski provide more information on other potential sources of money for the vehicle.

“Royalston’s got a tanker truck,” said committee Chair Jim Smith, “Phillipston’s got a tanker truck, Orange has a tanker truck, so it’s not a priority right now, in my eyes. But that’s just my opinion.”

“There’s a backup engine that we have,” said Suhoski, “but it never runs. What’s the best option for replacing it? One of the options that Captain (Eric) Jack and Chief Parker were looking at was a truck that will serve as a backup truck, if needed, but will also have water on hand. I think the hydrant district covers 54% of the geography of the town…. But they felt it would give them some flexibility.”

Suhoski continued, “We don’t have $650,000 in borrowing authority, we have maybe $400,000 left over from the last pumper because we got a grant for half of it.”

The price of the pumper Suhoski referenced was $825,000, which the town voted to fund through a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion. A USDA Emergency Rural Healthcare Grant provided $436,974 toward the purchase price.

Committee clerk Heather Butler threw out the possibility of securing a lease for the tanker.

“If we can have the chief come up with some solid numbers on the tanker truck,” said Smith, “and find out how much would have to come out of (the) capital (budget) for the first year of a lease, is it okay if we all meet next Wednesday? If we have $400,000 to put down on it, it will probably drop that first lease payment lower. We’d be at $250,000 on the balance.”

The CPC has just over $154,000 still available in its FY26 allotment to apply to a lease for the tanker after recommending a total of $1,161,500 in spending on a variety of departmental requests at last Wednesday’s meeting.

These included $88,000 for a new police cruiser, $65,000 for a new vehicle for the animal control officer, and $37,500 to make the walkway and entryway at the fire station compliant with the Americans with Disability Act.

The committee also recommended funds for several items for the Department of Public Works, including $60,000 for the final payment on a lease for a front-end loader, $136,000 for the final payment on a lease for a dump truck, $225,000 to pay for non-Chapter 90 road work, $115,000 for a Ford F-550 for the cemetery department, $60,000 for improvements to roads in the public cemeteries, and $50,000 for used equipment.

Also recommended was $225,000 for the Water Enterprise Fund and $325,000 for the Sewer Enterprise Fund. The committee also supported spending $25,000 for the installation of panic buttons at Town Hall.

Finally, at Suhoski’s request, the committee recommended $145,000 to secure the envelope of the old fire station on Exchange Street and $200,000 for the grant match account.

Recommendations of the Capital Program Committee are non-binding. The final decision will be up to voters at this year’s Annual Town Meeting.

Wednesday’s CPC meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Liberty Hall at Town Hall.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.