RIVERSIDE — The Riverside City Council approved two bids for fire equipment during its regular meeting Monday. 

The council opened and approved bids for two different pieces of equipment during the meeting. The first was a bid from Striker for a Lucas chest compression device costing $16,684.11. The second was from KLK Fire Solutions for a rescue tool and two attachments costing $26,452.50. 

Both pieces were requested by Fire Chief Adam Manning, during the council’s work session Aug 1. The chief said at the time that his entire staff felt the Lucas device was the number one priority for the department when it came to equipment. He said the devices have been incredibly helpful for the Pell City Fire Department, where Manning and many other Riverside firefighters work part time.

“We have them over there, and we run three or four people on a truck, and it still comes in handy,” said Manning, who was not present at Monday's meeting. “So working here with one person, without question, it comes in handy, because it does the CPR for you.”

Manning said the rescue tool he wants to buy is a battery operated one to replace the 20-year-old gas powered one the department has been using. For ease of training, he requested using one similar to the one PCFD already uses.

Mayor Rusty Jessup said the equipment is being paid for with proceeds from the sale of the city’s brush truck, which the council had decided it no longer needed. 

“We sold our old brush truck,” he said, “and it actually brought more money than we thought it was.”

Manning said at the Aug. 1 work session that the sale brought in $60,000, though the city needed to pay a 10 percent fee to the company that advertised the sale. The bids total at $43,136.61, which City Clerk Candace Smith said was only $136 over what the council approved spending on Aug. 1.

“It's a wash,” Jessup said. “So we are happy to do that. It's equipment we need and we swapped it for equipment we didn’t need. So it's a win-win for everybody and we don’t have a significant cash outlay.”

In other matters, the council: 

—Heard from Erskine Funderburg representing Jeff Jones about a request to vacate two unnamed public roads near the former Riverside Marina for Jones’ proposed development, The Readmon. The council set a public hearing on the matter for Sept. 19;

—Approved an ordinance banning the use engine compression brakes in the city limits of Riverside; 

—Approved an ordinance setting fines for repeated false fire alarm calls within a calendar year. The ordinance would fine business or residents $50 beginning at the fourth occurrence and $100 beginning on the seventh occurrence; and 

—Heard Councilman Sam Maddox announce that Riverside Baptist Church will hold a fish fry on Saturday, Sept 17, as a “Frank Riddle Day” to honor former Riverside City Councilman Frank Riddle who died last year. Riddle was a deacon and music director at Riverside Baptist.

Taylor Mitchell is a Daily Home reporter covering Pell City.

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