By John McCallum
Editor 

Cheney council OKs vehicle purchase and pre-purchase

 

Last updated 8/18/2016 at 8:52am



Vehicle purchases were the order of business at a short Cheney City Council meeting Aug. 9.

Council unanimously approved a Police Department request to purchase a 2016 Ford Interceptor all-wheel drive SUV from the Columbia Ford Government Sales state contract for police vehicles. According to request documentation, the vehicle price from Columbia is $38,694, with total project cost to fully equip the Interceptor for patrol duty, not to exceed $51,500.

Cheney Police Chief John Hensley told the council the purchase was needed because the department’s No. 8 vehicle, a 2009 Crown Victoria, had its transmission go out the prior week and had to be taken offline. The cost to replace the transmission was more than the value of the car itself, he added.

In response to a question from Councilman Chris Grover, Hensley said the projected price of the 2016 Ford included all of the equipment necessary for a fully-functioning police vehicle, including lights package and internal computer system.

“The old one will be decommissioned, stripped of its gear and wholesaled,” Hensley said, adding the Fire Department has expressed interest in some of the Crown Victoria’s hardware, which is older technology and of no use to the Police Department.

Council also gave unanimous pre-approval to the Light Department to purchase a surplus pickup truck from a list of vehicles available through the U.S. General Services Administration, with purchase price not to exceed $16,000 plus tax. Director Steve Boorman gave the council three examples of the type of vehicles available through the federal exchange and how they are listed, which includes information about the vehicle, department it comes from, fair market value and description such as whether or not it had dents, or might need some repairs.

Boorman said the vehicle will replace the department’s green van, which has been parked because of safety issues. The pre-approval was needed because items on the list don’t stay there long.

“Usually you have only one day to make a purchase,” he said.

In the meeting’s only other agenda item, the council unanimously approved submission of the city’s Utility Resource Plan cover sheet, which is required to be submitted annually to the state of Washington. The plan outlines the city’s estimated energy use in five- and 10-year periods, including anticipated summer and winter loads along with yearly average, and what mix of energy resources will be used to provide customers power, i.e. hydro, thermal, wind, etc.

“Ours is pretty simple,” Boorman said. “We only have two sources of power.”

The bulk of Cheney’s electrical power is purchased from the Bonneville Power Administration, with any additional requirements met through an agreement with other utilities that might have excess power to sell.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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