News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena Fire Captain Chris Morrison steps up into the department’s aerial truck while at work on Monday. The department is purchasing a new ladder truck to replace the old one which is more than 30 years old.

ALPENA — Alpena is selling up to $4.1 million in bonds to help cover the cost of the new clear wells being installed at the water plant near Mich-e-ke-wis Park and cover the balance of the cost for a new aerial truck for the fire department that has already been ordered.

The bonds are for 15 years and have an annual payment that begins at $210,000 in 2026 and peaks at $345,000 in the final year of the bonds in 2040.

Council voted to sell the bonds at its meeting on Sept. 2.

Dickinson Wright PLLC, a firm hired earlier this year, will oversee the sale of the bonds.

The money for the two new 500,000 gallon clear wells is needed because bids for the project came in much higher than expected.

The clear wells, which were installed in the 1920s and 1930s, are crucial for ensuring safe drinking water, but have become more prone to leaking and deterioration as they age. The city has made several repairs to the clear wells over the years, but they have now outlived their useful life.

In 2022, the City of Alpena was awarded a Michigan Economic Development Workforce Grant in the amount of $6 million to replace the clear well tanks at the City’s Water Production Plant, but additional infrastructure, internal valves, and piping, coupled with higher construction and material costs drove the bids to $9,843,000.

The sale of the bonds will cover the additional cost the city has incurred over and above the Workforce Grant.

The money from the bond isn’t restricted to just the clear well project. In a resolution passed by council, it says the revenue from the bonds are not restricted and could be used to help pay for other projects such as improvements to the water recycling plant, improvements to the water production plant, improving water mains, replacing existing water mains and installing new water mains, and other water main work and services, as well as all work, equipment, and appurtenances necessary or incidental improvements.

The city also said a new ladder truck is needed, to help with fires in large buildings and for aerial rescues.

Alpena’s current aerial truck is capable of reaching 100 feet into the air, but it is more than 30 years old and is beginning to deteriorate in condition due to its use and age. The truck is the only elevated aerial platform in a 70-mile radius of Alpena and is an essential public safety asset that can be requested by other communities for mutual aid requests for assistance.

The city has already committed to buying a new truck for $2,007,980. The bonds will cover $900,000 of the cost, and the balance could come from the city’s savings or more grant funding.

The city also received a federal grant of more than $1 million to help pay for a new aerial truck for the fire department, but the grant and all the other ones like it were withdrawn.

Fire Chief Rob Edmonds said the city was told to submit the grant request, and the city may still get the funds, which would help preserve fund balance.

Edmonds said it will take about 44 months from the time the truck was ordered in January for it to be built and delivered, and that could be enough time for the second grant request to be approved and lower the city’s financial obligation for paying for the fire truck.

Edmonds said by the time the new fire truck is delivered, the current aerial truck will have little value to other departments who may be interested in buying it. He said the city is still trying to find out what it will do with the ladder truck, as well as an old pumper truck, which is also 30-plus years old, that also has little value. Edmonds said a person who refurbishes old fire trucks and leases them to fire departments has expressed some interest, but nothing is set in stone for the old tanker or aerial unit.

“The aerial truck needs a lot of work, so we’re just really keeping our options open right now,” Edmonds said. “We still have almost three years before the new truck is delivered so we have plenty of time to figure out what we’ll do with it.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.