The all-volunteer fire department Madison Hose Company No. 1 has been approved to proceed with the purchase of a new fire boat to replace a piece of aging equipment. At the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on Oct. 23, the board gladly approved the purchased—particularly because it came in significantly below budget.

The purchase of a new Zodiac Boat and trailer were listed in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for fiscal year 2017-’18 for $85,000. Fire Chief Robert Kyttle reported that a committee had secured a bid for a new boat that came in at $18,754 for the boat itself and an additional $3,245 for a new trailer.

“It came in way under budget on our end for what we are going to use it for hopefully the next 15 to 20 years,” he said. “The lifejackets and everything is included in the price and we have equipment already on the old piece that we will probably use.”

Kyttle said the current inflatable boat was purchased in 1997 by the Fire Department and is quickly reaching the end of its life.

“It is just getting old—that is all there is to it,” he said. “It was re-powered in 2012 due to some failures, the new tubes that keep the air in there are approximately $10,000 to fix. My boat captain is down there pretty much every other day putting air into that boat and making sure, but it has just about run its course. It is 20 years old.”

The boat is used for shoreline water response calls and Kyttle said the new boat will be well suited for use along coastlines and shallow or rocky areas. In addition, Kyttle said this new boat is smaller, making it easier to transport and deploy.

“The committee decided to go with a smaller boat. Bigger boats are not always better,” he said. “It is easier to launch and I am not going to lie, West Wharf has become a little bit harder for us in the last few years to launch the Zodiac, which is where we normally launch that boat from…[The new boat] is capable now of being lifted by us off the trailer and be put in the water. That is huge, so now if we can’t get into a tight spot, we just get a few guys or girls to grab the boat and the boat launches.”

Board members asked Kyttle what would happen to the old boat.

“That is owned by the Fire Department and was purchased back with funds from the Fireman’s Dance that we used to have back then and there were some donations at that time in memory of people in town including my grandmother,” he said. “We will get rid of it or do something with it and obviously that money will be used for the new boat that we have and add some new equipment.”

The board unanimously approved the purchase.