Staff photo
A Chelsea Fire Department truck
The Chelsea City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to join a national lawsuit against fire truck manufacturers.
“The allegations are that certain fire truck manufacturers have colluded to price-fix and jacked up the prices,” City Attorney Mark Boardman said. “Those exaggerated prices are a violation of federal laws. … The International Association of Firefighters, IFF, has issued a statement that what that does is affects public safety because it takes not only money from the taxpayers, but money from the taxpayers that could be used to provide other firefighting equipment.”
There is no allegation that the fire trucks are somehow defective, unsafe or putting anyone at risk, Boardman said.
The national litigation is against the nation's top three manufacturers — REV Group, Oshkosh Corp. (including Pierce Manufacturing), Rosenbauer America — and the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association. Those three manufacturers control 70% to 80% of the nation's fire truck market.
More than 60 lawsuits have been filed by cities, counties and other entities that buy fire trucks across the country, and cases are being consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, where the first lawsuit was filed last year.
Chelsea is among numerous cities in Alabama getting involved, Boardman said, noting that Muscle Shoals joined the lawsuit on Monday.
“What the citizens of Chelsea would gain or the citizens of any government entity that joins the litigation would be a refund or a payment back of some of the excess price,” Boardman said. “it’s not a problem to charge too much. It’s a problem to collude to raise prices for everybody, and that collusion, if proven, will result in a judgement or settlement in favor of the fire departments and the government entities where they get some of that money back.”
Chelsea Mayor Cody Sumners said the city bears no cost by joining the lawsuit because it’s being done on a contingency basis for the attorneys.
“If it’s successful, the city will get their part, and the attorney gets theirs. If it’s unsuccessful, no skin off our backs,” Sumners said.
The City Council also on Monday voted to lease seven vehicles from Enterprise Fleet Management for five years or 75,000 miles.
In the past, the city has purchased vehicles outright, but it will be cheaper to lease the vehicles and have Enterprise maintain them as well. For $66,000 a year, the city can lease the seven vehicles and have Enterprise maintain them, including oil changes, tires and other service, Sumners said.
Two of those vehicles will be for the Building Services Department, two will be for the Parks and Recreation Department, two will be for maintenance workers and one will be for the Chelsea Citizen Observer Patrol program, he said.
In other council business, the council:
- Accepted the fiscal 2025 municipal audit report from the Doeren Mayhew audit firm
- Authorized Sumners to execute a memorandum of agreement for public safety radio system maintenance for $11,845 for the year
