City Departments Stretching Vehicle Life

Tony Anderson, left, mechanic with the Springdale Police Department, and Jeff Bohannan, fleet manager with the department, look over damage Friday to a Chevrolet Tahoe damaged in an accident. Besides external damage to the vehicle, lines leading to the rear air conditioner were pinched causing them to leak. Bohannan and Anderson drained the refrigerant from the system for safety.
Tony Anderson, left, mechanic with the Springdale Police Department, and Jeff Bohannan, fleet manager with the department, look over damage Friday to a Chevrolet Tahoe damaged in an accident. Besides external damage to the vehicle, lines leading to the rear air conditioner were pinched causing them to leak. Bohannan and Anderson drained the refrigerant from the system for safety.

By The Numbers

Springdale Vehicles

Police: 135

Public Works: 58

Fire: 37

Parks and Recreation: 16

Buildings: 10

Animal Services: 6

Airport: 4

Planning and Community Development: 3

Administration: 1

City Attorney: 1

Library: 1

Museum: 1

Total: 273

Source: City Of Springdale

— Most city employees won’t be driving spiffy new vehicles for a while.

Officials have tried to avoid purchasing vehicles — except for the Police and Fire departments — during the economic downturn, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.

“We have tried to be frugal with vehicles when public safety is not an issue,” Sprouse said. “The rest of the departments we will evaluate on a case-by-case basis.”

Police Chief Kathy O’Kelley asked the City Council’s Capital Improvement Committee on Monday for 10 patrol vehicles. The Administration Department asked to replace a 1997 pickup driven by the maintenance supervisor. Also, the Building Inspection Department asked to replace two vehicles with transmission problems.

Committee members asked about the type of vehicles to be purchased, wanting to get the best buy for the use, said Alderman Rick Evans.

“We need to make sure the city is purchasing what we need instead of what someone wants,” Evans said. “There is not a lot of extra money in the budget. These vehicles could be driven for a long time.”

The Police Department has 135 vehicles, according to city insurance records. Several of those were acquired through drug forfeitures, O’Kelley said, and didn’t cost the city any money.

The biggest concern for the Police Department is replacing patrol vehicles, which wear out quickly, especially those used on multiple shifts, O’Kelley said. Patrol runs three shifts a day, every day.

The city has 80 to 81 marked cars, O’Kelley said. Unmarked cars are used by detectives, administrative officers and for undercover operations, she said.

“We bought six patrol cars last year, six the year before and six to eight the year before that,” O’Kelley said. “The unmarked cars don’t get as much mileage and don’t have to be replaced as often.”

The Fire Department developed a vehicle replacement program that staggers purchase years, said Chief Mike Irwin. The department has 37 vehicles, including fire engines and ladder trucks.

Staff vehicles are replaced every 10 years, ambulances every seven years and firefighting vehicles, such as engines, are replaced every 20 years, Irwin said.

The department didn’t purchase staff vehicles for a few years, but vehicles bought in 2012 and this year will put them on schedule.

“The wear on our vehicles depends on our call volume,” Irwin said. “If the call volume goes up substantially, we may have to look at the schedule again.”

The department has two ambulances on order, Irwin said. Engine No. 3 will need replacing soon, and a new engine will be needed when Station No. 7 is built, he said.

The Public Works Department, which includes the Street Division, has 58 vehicles, not including heavy equipment, tractors or mowers. The department is taking bids on two flat-bed dump trucks to replace 1988 models, he said.

Some vehicles and equipment are old enough they have little trade-in value, said Sam Goade, director of public works.

“We’ll probably use those until they have a catastrophic failure,” Goade said. “That would squeeze every bit of use out of them.”

A catastrophic failure would occur when the cost of repair is more than the value of the vehicle.

Most of the equipment purchases in recent years in the Public Works Department have been tractors, mowers and trailers, according to insurance records.

The Parks and Recreation Department has 16 vehicles, including the oldest in the city fleet. The department has received its money’s worth from a 1977 Ford dump truck, said Rick McWhorter, parks director.

“And we’ll get even more,” McWhorter said. “It’s still working. We use it mainly for hauling dirt and mulch from one park to another.”

More than half of the vehicles in the department are at least 10 years old, according to records.

“We don’t put that much mileage on them,” McWhorter said. “We try to extend their expected life span.”

The Building Inspection Department has 10 vehicles, used for inspections and code enforcement. All were purchased between 2004 and 2007, except a replacement bought last year when a vehicle blew an engine. Mike Chamlee, department director, asked for two replacement vehicles after transmissions went out in two older vehicles.

“If it costs $3,000 to $4,000 to replace a transmission in a vehicle that old, you’re not getting a good return on your investment,” Chamlee said.

With only 10 vehicles, replacement is by necessity, not on a schedule, Chamlee said.

City revenue will dictate how quickly older vehicles are replaced, Sprouse said.

“As our revenues grow, we will look at replacing more of the older vehicles,” Sprouse said.

Upcoming Events