HAMLET — Four new patrol vehicles will soon be joining the police department’s fleet.
The Hamlet City Council on Tuesday approved a proposal to trade in four surplus vehicles from the Hamlet Police Department for four new SUVs and pay the difference over the next four years.
City Manager John Terziu pitched two options to the council after he said there were no bids on the surplus vehicles.
The first option was to trade the four for two new ones. Terziu said the trade would have fully paid for the new vehicles, not counting the upfit for lights and equipment.
Upfitting a patrol vehicle costs around $10,000.
Terziu said that plan fits into the current budget.
The second and “preferred” option, Terziu said, was to trade four for four. That option included a finance deal where the city would pay $22,000 per year over the next four years with an additional $40,000 the first year for upfitting.
“That would bring us four new Ford Explorer Police Interceptor vehicles,’ Terziu said. “They’re extremely hard to find … we’ve looked for deals to be competitive with this over the last couple of months and there’s nothing that comes close to it.”
Terziu added that the vehicles in the current fleet don’t all look the same, “so we’re trying to work on a uniform police department.”
He added that the four Ford Mavericks aren’t made for “the daily grind of a police officer” or pursuit.
“Most of our vehicles are already up towards that hundred-thousand-mile mark…and we are in need of some … good vehicles that will have … good longevity, and more importantly, protect our police officers,” Terziu said.
The city manager said he could have made the decision without council approval since it was within the current budget.
“I think that’s bad business,” Terziu said. “And I always bring these decisions, when it comes to taxpayer dollars to council because …ultimately, regardless of what my authority says…it needs to be a decision by you all.”
Interim Chief James Carsto also supported the second option, believing it was financially beneficial in the long run.
Carsto said the vehicles run $40,000-$43,000 up front.
“So, you’ve got to figure if we were just buying these vehicles outright, we’d be spending well over $200,000 — where we’re spending half the cost for four brand new vehicles over the next four years,” Carsto said.
“And they’ve offered to actually, the current equipment that we have in the car, they’re going to have their shop guys professionally pull ‘em out so that they save the resale value so that nothing gets torn up,” Carston continued. “And they will deliver the four new vehicles, pick up the Mavericks … and bring all of our equipment back to us.”
Councilman Eddie Martin and Councilwoman Abbie Covington started making a motion at the same time, but Covington ceded to Martin.
The vote was unanimous.
