Norwich — By late August, the Norwich Fire Department hopes to have a new Marine 1 patrol rescue and hazardous materials response boat in the Thames River, able to respond to emergencies up and down the river from Norwich to Long Island Sound.

The city has advertised for bids, with responses due Feb. 13, for the new vessel that will replace the 38-year-old leaky Marine 1 Boston Whaler vessel with limited ability to respond to regional mutual aid calls, fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said Tuesday.

Norwich received approval in fall for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant that will cover 75 percent of the cost of the new fully equipped vessel and trailer, with the grant portion at $253,856 and the local share estimated at $84,618.

Scandariato said he first proposed replacing the 1980 vessel three years ago, and hired a third-party marine surveyor, D. Holiday Marine Surveyor, to analyze the boat's shortcomings. Scandariato said the boat has been damaged over the years by the rocks in the Thames River that pose a hazard to all boaters. Two years ago, the vessel assisted in the rescue of 15 people from the water, Scandariato said.

"The marina is busy year-round," he said. "We need this type of vehicle. It's important to maintain a perception of safety and security for the marina, for people who will dock there. The more we can make the city attractive, the better off we are."

But the request for city funding was postponed as the city wrestled with requests to replace several aging firetrucks. Scandariato said when the City Council did not include the boat in the approved 2017 referendum bond to purchase five firetrucks and other equipment, Scandariato pursued the highly competitive and complex federal grant.

He hopes the local 25 percent share still can come from the approved referendum bond, which included language to cover other firefighting equipment.

City Council President Pro Tempore and Public Safety Committee Chairman William Nash could not be reached for comment on possible local funding options for the matching share.

Mayor Peter Nystrom said the City Council will have to decide how to fund it. He said using the referendum bond is one possibility if the city’s bond counsel and corporation counsel agree the boat would be covered in the bond language. The funding also could be placed in the capital improvements budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Scandariato "did what we asked,” Nystrom said. “He went out and got a grant for the boat. We’ll have to provide the matching share.”

In his FEMA application, the chief stressed that this vessel would be an integral part of the entire region's waterfront public safety plan, with the ability to respond to everything from fires to water rescues to hazardous materials accidents or terrorist incidents. The new vessel will have three 75-foot rescue ropes, underwater radar, radiation-detection equipment and chemical-detection and response equipment.

"We are constantly on the water training in preparation to respond to any request from our home base to the Ports of New London, Groton and (Long Island Sound) when underway," Scandariato wrote in the application.

He added that Norwich is the only fire department with 24-hour staffing in the northern portion of the Thames River, and often responds to emergencies along the river in Preston or Montville. But responses have been limited by the age, condition and lack of heavy-weather capability of the current vessel.

"This investment into the Port Security capabilities for the Thames River and regional port area of New London is a significant 'plus up,'" Scot S. Graham, a retired U.S. Coast Guard captain and Coast Guard port security specialist for Sector Long Island Sound wrote to Scandariato in a congratulatory letter upon approval of the grant.

Scandariato credited the committee of Norwich firefighters who wrote the specifications for the new vessel, for the success of the grant application. Committee Chairman, fire Lt. Nate Kannas, and committee member firefighter Adam Griffen are retired Coast Guard personnel. Fire Lt. Tim Teper and firefighter Branden Johnson also served on the committee. Scandariato said he included younger firefighters on the committee to emphasize that the new vessel is expected to serve the city for the next 35 to 40 years.

"Those guys did a great job," Scandariato said of the committee. "They met with five vendors, wrote the specs that were approved by (city Purchasing Agent) Bill Hathaway. This boat is going to be able to do a lot of things we can't do now. Our people are on the water constantly. We train day and night."

c.bessette@theday.com