Monterey City Manager Fred Meurer has advised Pacific Grove’s Interim City Manager Charlene Wiseman that Monterey will likely refund a portion of Pacific Grove’s 2008-09 payments for fire protection because of cost savings that the Monterey Fire Department was able to achieve in fiscal year 2008-09. Meurer advises that the amount may be as much as $100,000, and that more accurate numbers will be available next month, in august.

In addition, Meurer states that there will be a reduction of $167,800 in the charges to Pacific Grove for fiscal year 2009-10 as a result of cost savings efforts made in Monterey and Pacific Grove, and he has directed his staff to reduce the monthly charges Pacific Grove pays as a result.

He is also projecting a reduction of $281,000 in charges for fiscal year 2010-11, partly as a result of recognition that Pacific Grove’s reserve fire apparatus have been used “disproportionately” to assist Monterey while Monterey suffers mechanical problems with their own fire apparatus. Monterey anticipates that it will need Pacific Grove’s reserve equipment for the better part of a year while they await the building and equipping of a new fire engine.

A fire engine can cost from $50,000 to more than $750,000. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has compiled guidelines for apparatus design based upon review of the anticipated hazards and geographical terrain of the area the fire department will service, as well as other variables. Other factors may include ease of operation response speed, equipment storage and equipment deployment.

The manufacture of a fire engine remains a custom, almost one-of-a-kind operation. Typically, a group of workers is assigned to the fabrication of the body and assembly of the truck frame. A separate group performs body finishing, then the apparatus is wired, equipped, and tested by a third, or “equipment,” group.