A tender for the Wittenberg Fire Department is already showing signs of wear and tear, one year after the village received it.
Sharon Beversdorf, spokeswoman for the department, told the Wittenberg Village Board on Sept. 3 that the tender vehicle the village is still paying off started to leak water in June, noting that it was noticeable during one of the parades in which the fire department took part. Also, the shocks need to be replaced, and work’s supposed to be done on the vehicle’s front end. While some of it is covered under warranty, the village is still anticipating paying for some of the work.
“We didn’t have that many fires (in the past year). You start to wonder,” Beversdorf said. “The worst part is they told us the water tank is corroding from the inside.”
Board member Paul Yaeger recommended the fire department get its attorney involved to look into the matter, suggesting that the vehicle might be a “lemon.”
“Is there a lemon law?” Yaeger said.
Board member Theresa Gatz expressed her disbelief that the vehicle could be showing so many problems, especially given that it hasn’t been used as aggressively as bigger municipalities dealing with more fire calls.
“This vehicle is just barely a year old,” Gatz said. “That’s what I don’t get.”
Beversdorf said water samples are being tested to determine if there’s some corrosive agent causing problems, but if the water comes back clean, the fire department could take up Yaeger’s suggestion to get a lawyer to pursue the matter.
“We haven’t heard anything in the last couple of months,” Beversdorf said, noting that the other water tender purchased previously is not showing any problems with the tank. “This is a weird one.”
Board President William Switalla found it hard to believe that local water could be responsible for corroding the metal tank and recommended pushing the company it was purchased from to foot the bill.
“We should put the blame on them,” Switalla said.
Beversdorf noted the fire board got “railroaded” into the agreement for the faulty tender, saying that previous personnel made the deal and then didn’t get the board involved until it was necessary to purchase the vehicle.
“The specs came from them,” Beversdorf said. “They looked good, and the people came and talked a good game, and everything that happened to it would be covered (under warranty) unless we had an accident.”
Gatz recommended having another company like Marion Body Works examine the vehicle to prove where the blame lies.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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