GRAND LEDGE - More than a year after a Grand Ledge company was paid more than $53,000 to convert a semi truck chassis into a water tanker for a fire department in Montcalm County, it hasn't delivered the finished vehicle.
Etankers signed an agreement with the Stanton Community Fire Department to convert the truck in December 2016. The department's 20 volunteer firefighters serve three townships and the city of Stanton. The area is 52 square miles.
Fire Chief Brian Brasington said the department's four-member fire board decided to replace its only water tanker in July 2016. The aging vehicle had motor issues, over 400,000 miles on it, and was burning oil.
A brand new tanker would have cost $300,000 to $400,000, Brasington said.
"We just don't have that kind of money," said Corinda Stover, who is treasurer for both the fire department and Sidney Township, one of the municipalities served by the fire department.
Voters in Sidney Township passed a 5-year 0.5 mill proposal for fire safety to help cover their portion of the expense in November 2016.
The department bought a semi for $66,000 and signed an agreement with Etankers to convert the vehicle into a water tanker for $63,777, Stover said. The department made an initial payment of $33,688 to Etankers, she said.
Contract language specified the vehicle would be delivered within 90 to 120 days, Stover said.
That was more than 15 months ago — and officials with municipalities the department serves say the company's owner, Joe Thomas, hasn't offered a good explanation as to why the truck isn't finished.
"He just kept putting us off. It was supposed to be June of 2017, then October, then December," Brasington said. "We have been without a tanker and have been relying on our neighboring department for mutual aid."
Thomas didn't respond to messages left at a phone number listed on Etankers' websiteand Facebook page by the State Journal, or to an email and message to the company's Facebook page seeking comment. No one was at the address listed for the company on West Grand River Highway in Grand Ledge when a reporter visited the site last week.
Stover said after the truck's delivery deadline came and went last spring, local officials reached out to Thomas, who offered only delayed delivery promises.
Last August, the fire department paid Etankers another $20,000, Stover said. To date, they've paid the company all but $10,000 of the total cost, she said.
"We paid it thinking, 'This will help with the push to the end,'" Stover said.
In April, the Stanton Community Fire Department still didn't have its truck when Thomas attended a fire board meeting.
Jed Welder, a trustee with Sidney Township, said he cited staffing problems at the company, along with a backlog of work, and promised delivery of the truck by June 1.
Welder isn't confident they'll get it.
"It's a circumstance of, 'We've paid our money. Where is the truck?'" he said.
Licensing requirements unclear
According to a description on Etankers' website, the business "is the culmination of 75+ years in the fire apparatus industry."
"Etankers was established to change the mystery, frustration, and smoke and mirrors process to purchasing a new piece of fire apparatus," it reads. "Etanker’s intent is to provide open, transparent, current pricing, and support during the purchase process and during the life of the apparatus."
The website doesn't offer any other description of the services it offers or the size of its staff.
The state Attorney General's Office received one complaint against "Etankers.com" in 2015.
Auto dealers and auto repair businesses are regulated and licensed by the Michigan Secretary of State, said agency spokesman Fred Woodhams.
Etankers isn't licensed with the Michigan Secretary of State, Woodhams said, but there are licensing exceptions for businesses that sell vehicles to government agencies.
It's unclear, Woodhams said, whether Etankers needs a state license to operate.
"We would need to review that and talk to the owner about what's going on," Woodhams said Thursday.
Brasington said Monday the fire board chose Etankers because they were recommended "by another fire apparatus builder."
"We did not research them," Brasington said.
Welder said the agreement the fire department signed with Etankers didn't outline "specific policies" for a failure to deliver its truck on time.
"That was a failure on our part," he said.
Welder said if the truck isn't delivered by June 1, he'll push for officials to take action against the company.
"We've got to do something," he said. "We're going to let the rest of the townships in the state know this is not a company that they want to do business with."
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.
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