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Officials receive bids for sheriff's cruisers |
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Friday, 09 February 2007 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
The Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office is in line to get two new cruisers, while county officials are in the process of trading in one cruiser and shifting the other to the chief deputy.
The Auglaize County commissioners received two bids for cruisers during their session Thursday. Sheriff Al Solomon is reviewing the bids and he said he expects to make a decision soon.
Clark Ford-Mercury of Wapakoneta submitted the lowest bid at approximately $21,388. With a $4,350 trade-in value, Clark would sell the office one car at $17,040 and charge list price for the other Ford Crown Victoria.
St. Marys Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep submitted a bid of approximately $21,620 per car. The two Dodge Chargers would cost approximately $19,600 a piece, with a credit of $4,000 for a trade-in on the current cruiser.
The two cruisers being taken out of deputy rotation are a 2004 Ford Crown Victorias, each with nearly 100,000 miles. The policy of switching out the office’s six cruisers began several years at the Sheriff’s Office.
Commissioners said they try to replace two cruisers every three years.
Commissioner Ivo Kramer said it is easier to budget and they have yet to run into the costly maintenance problems they encountered in the past.
“It’s important to keep the cruisers in good working order,” Solomon said. “We want to be able to respond to the calls we are given with good equipment. Our cruisers are part of that.”
He said because none of the deputies take cruisers home, at least two deputies are using each cruiser daily, which means miles on them add up fast.
“We’re putting a lot of mileage on them because of the amount of deputies using each cruiser,” Solomon said.
He said the decision to keep one of the cruisers for Chief Deputy Mike Eberle was made because the work vehicle he had been using was transferred to a detective when another position there was filled last year.
“A lot of times, the chief, like myself, will have to respond to major incidents and assist detectives,” Solomon said. “He has to be able to respond from home, and he puts a lot of miles on it himself in a year. By putting him in an older cruiser, we will be able to save money and still have a cruiser available to him.”
Commissioner John Bergman said by giving the chief deputy a vehicle to drive other than his personal car, they also are alleviating some liability concerns.
In addition, the cruiser is to be used occasionally by other deputies and sheriff’s office employees to travel to trainings and for other work-related business.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 February 2007 )
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