The Wheels Of Ignorance And Hate Go Round And Round

“The price of fuel for the town is up 83 percent, the First Selectman is screaming for money to keep our “quality of life” intact, we need money for “public safety”, he says. So why, without a budget did we just put $ 500.00 WHEELS ON A TOWN VEHICLE?”

“We” JUST did not put wheels on the vehicle. Mr. DeAngelis is once again, distorting the truth. The Fire Department Car 1 is a nine year old vehicle previously owned by the Police Department.  It was given to the Fire Department to replace the previous Chief’s vehicle.  Before being given to the Fire Department, it sat up at the PD outside and unused for two years. It needed to be refurbished. Refurbishing fire apparatus is a way for the MVFD to save the Town money. The car was no different. The MVFD was able to do it with Rescue 1 and with the old Truck 1.  There is nothing unusual about it. 

A new vehicle would have cost $40,000 and would have been a waste of taxpayer money.  Mr. St. John’s elusive fire consultant recommended the Chief receive a NEW vehicle.  The MVFD disagreed, and chose to fix up what the Town already owns.

In this case,  the wheels on the car were badly rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not safe. The MVFD received an estimate from the Ford dealership for STEEL wheels.  The cost would have been $200.00 per wheel, for a total cost of $800.00. However, Bob Ford in Middlebury, gave the MVFD an excellent deal on USED chrome wheels for only $125.00 a piece.  Thats a bargain. Bob could have charged the Town a whole lot more. Bob Ford and the MVFD saved the Town $300.00. 

Go to eBay and search for chrome wheels. We did and after searching through the first 400 auctions could not find a single set of chrome wheels even close to $500.00.  All were priced much higher ranging from $800.00 up to $4,000. How much did Mr. St. John pay for all the chrome wheels on his fleet of trucks?

Mr. DeAngelis also does not tell you what the timeline was.  The work on the vehicle was done last winter under last year’s budget.  The new wheels were not ordered recently. However, the work was just recently billed to the Town by Bob.

End of story. 

As a side note, the rather blurred picture of the Chief’s vehicle sitting on the apron at Fire HQ appears to be the work of the former Chairmen of the Fire Commission, Mr. Heidkamp, who was reported seen taking the picture, while speeding by Fire HQ. This supports the MVFD’s assertion that Mr. Heidkamp was never put into the position of Chairman of the Fire Commission by former First Selectman Ed St. John to help the MVFD, but rather to hurt it.  It appears he is still working with Mr. St. John and Mr. DeAngelis against the MVFD, and Tom Gormley.