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Council approves purchase of new police vehicles
By ANNA SCHUMANN
At its Jan. 5 meeting, the Tomball City Council unanimously approved the purchase of three replacement police department vehicles through the Texas Association of School Boards Buyboard. The total cost of the vehicles is $82,666.
In the fiscal year 2008-2009, $78,000 was budgeted and approved for the replacement of these three vehicles; the low bid price exceeds budget by $4,666. Two other vehicles were budgeted for replacement in the department, and those vehicles came in under budget by $3,000, so the remaining $1,666 was sought as additional appropriations funding, according to city documents.
City Manager Jan Belcher explained to the council that the second lowest bids, rather than the lowest bids, were taken due to uncertain timing of when the police department would receive vechicles from the lowest bidder.
City Councilman David Quinn expressed concerns about the additional cost of equipping vehicles and the necessity of purchasing vehicles right now.
In response to his questions, Police Chief Robert Hauck explained that equipment for vehicles is built into the budget though most of it can be moved from one vehicle to another.
Hauck said his vehicle, a city vehicle, has more than 100,000 miles on it and is starting to incur repair costs. He said it would also be good to sell the used vehicles now to get the best price.
Hauck told the council the department would “absolutely” survive without the replacement fleet, but asked the council to approve the additional spending because the costs of replacement are built into the budget.
In the fiscal year 2008-2009, $78,000 was budgeted and approved for the replacement of these three vehicles; the low bid price exceeds budget by $4,666. Two other vehicles were budgeted for replacement in the department, and those vehicles came in under budget by $3,000, so the remaining $1,666 was sought as additional appropriations funding, according to city documents.
City Manager Jan Belcher explained to the council that the second lowest bids, rather than the lowest bids, were taken due to uncertain timing of when the police department would receive vechicles from the lowest bidder.
City Councilman David Quinn expressed concerns about the additional cost of equipping vehicles and the necessity of purchasing vehicles right now.
In response to his questions, Police Chief Robert Hauck explained that equipment for vehicles is built into the budget though most of it can be moved from one vehicle to another.
Hauck said his vehicle, a city vehicle, has more than 100,000 miles on it and is starting to incur repair costs. He said it would also be good to sell the used vehicles now to get the best price.
Hauck told the council the department would “absolutely” survive without the replacement fleet, but asked the council to approve the additional spending because the costs of replacement are built into the budget.
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