Members of the Chicopee Fire Department, City Council and city government gather to check out the new capital improvement projects at Fire House No. 5.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — On Oct. 23, the Chicopee Fire Department invited Mayor John Vieau, the City Council and public safety officers to fire house No. 5 to celebrate two capital improvement projects.
Those projects included the parking lot, which was in rough shape along with an underground fuel storage tank.
The parking lot is now brand new, the underground storage unit was removed and replaced with an above ground storage fueling facility and a brand-new engine.
Fire Chief Dan Stamborski explained that the projects started two and half years ago when the department submitted two capital improvement requests that were both approved by the City Council.
He explained, “The city’s Engineering Department did all the design work for us. From that point, we went out to bid and got a contractor in here to bid on replacing the sidewalks, the drainage, the paving. Engine five is a separate capital improvement project that replaced an older truck that had a lot of frame rot, they call it rust jacking. The truck from the outside looked pretty decent but it needed to be replaced, it wasn’t safe anymore.”
Stamborski also said that they didn’t submit these projects because they wanted new things, he said each project will benefit the community.
“Number one is just the safety, believe it or not just getting in and out of your vehicles daily right you don’t want a big pothole that someone can trip and get hurt on. They beefed up all the pavement to sustain the weight of the engines. As far as the fuel goes, it’s right here on site, they can fuel up quickly and not wasting fuel going to another facility to fill up. With the brand new truck, from all the new safety features with it, there are so many sensors and features and added storage that is an upgrade,” Stamborski said.
Nothing of these projects would have been possible without the approval from the City Council and Stamborski expressed his appreciation for the approval of these projects.
He said, “We’re very happy. Appreciate the City Council’s support and their support on every project we ever try to do. It makes my job a lot easier because ever since I’ve been in here, a little over five years, the mayor and the council has backed up all of our proposals. Obviously they do their due diligence and ask questions but they approve the necessary things we ask for.”
Vieau talked about why it is important for a city to continue to fund public safety on improvements they made need to help the community.
He said, “Public safety is paramount to the success of Chicopee and we’re going to continue to invest in it. Making sure that when people call, someone comes and that people at their worst, we are always at our best to get there. I am thankful for the professionalism of the Fire Department. I hear nothing but accolades from many and it certainly resonates with me as mayor how important it is for the people of Chicopee.”
Besides expressing his appreciation to the mayor and City Council, Stamborski also had a message for the residents. He said, “We appreciate their support. All of the tax dollars pay for all of these things, and we appreciate it and we try and do our research and get the best value for our dollar.”
A new truck and ambulance have also been delivered. Those vehicles were a part of two separate capital improvement project requests that Stamborski said he expects to showcase soon as well.
