Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Eagan to replace Command Vehicle - 5/12/2005 The command vehicle is that much
Eagan v�I7 I C I� more important when the characteris-o r �' ''� tics of Eagan are considered,he said.
C7 u "We have nuif.ber of large employ-
iz-C 3 ers in the city and we have major infra-
re ace From Page lA structure that is susceptible to disas-
ters,"Therkelsen said.
Councilmember Mike Maguire added Maguire said that the city has gotten
his own opinion on the 31-year-old bus. this much use out of what was a school
command "I have a hard time envisioning this bus three decades ago,shows how fiscal-
bus being useful on a trip to Mille Lacs ly responsible the city is when it comes
let alone in an emergency,"he said. to equipment.
The replacement? A new, custom- Maguire also suggested that the city's
vehl*cle built mobile command center vehicle track record likely means a future city
that will run the city $467,250 and take council could be sitting around joking
New$467 250 command 220 days to be delivered. about its own old bus 30 years from now
The new vehicle will come complete as they consider replacing the replace-
vehicle will replace school bus with all cabinetry and technology and ment for the 1974 bus."It really is telling
will be able to be used in many more sit- how seriously the city takes maintaining
in use since 1979 uations,Therkelsen said. its equipment and getting as much out of
Features will include a bank of it as possible,"Maguire said.
BY JOSHUA NICHOLS phones and a satellite phone system,lap- Therkelsen said it takes 220 days for
Sun Newspapers top computers, cross-spectrum radio delivery of the new vehicle because
communication, televisions and video business has been good for manufactur-
It's served the city well over the capabilities. The vehicle will also come ers lately and the vehicle is built to cus-
years, but there's no doubt that with an exterior lighting system that tom specifications for each customer.
what one Eagan City Council will allow it to light an incident scene Therkelsen said the new command ve-
member dubbed "the Partridge and will also include a weather station hicle likely would be used in many more
Family bus" has reached the endand GPS navigation systemsituations,such as tactical incidents and
of the road. The new technology will allow the crime scenes."The reality is we have not
The council voted unanimous- command vehicle to be connected to the even thought about it because of the ve-
ly as part of its consent agenda city's emergency manager and the city's hicle currently available to us,"he said.
May 3 to replace the 1974 school dispatch. It also can serve as a back-up
bus that has been used as the mo- dispatch center if needed.
bile command vehicle for the The nearly$1.8 million fund balance
city's police and fire departments in the city's Equipment Revolving Fund
since 1979. will cover the cost of the vehicle.It will
"It has more than 100,000 miles also cost about$700 to$1,000 a month to
on it but beyond that the technolo- operate the vehicle,Therkelsen said.
gy today is something the current The decision to replace the current ve-
vehicle will not support," Police hicle came after a review by the Special-
Chief Kent Therkelsen said. ized Public Safety Equipment Sharing
"It allows us to bring the inti- Project Study Team, a joint effort be-
dent commanders together in tween Burnsville and Eagan.
close proximity to the incident.It
has served us well over the years,
but we need something new"
The command vehicle is used
as a headquarters in a major inci-
dent.It is intended to bring the in-
cident commander and other re-
sources together close to the scene
of action.
Because of its limitations, the
current red and white bus is most-
ly used for fire crew rehab at fire
scenes,Fire Chief Bob Kriha said.
After touring the vehicle dur-
ing a break in the April 26 meet-
ing, the council members didn't
have much trouble seeing the need
for a new command vehicle.
"It's basically a school bus that
has some panels, some counters
and an RCA computer monitor in
it," Councilmember Peggy Carl-
son said.
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