PORT ANGELES — The City Council earlier this week pulled the plug on an idea for a costly hybrid car for the city’s vehicle pool while also giving the nod to possibly allocating nearly $900,000 for vehicles, including three new police cars and a fire engine in the 2010 budget.
Council members said during a Tuesday budget work session that a $26,000 estimate for a hybrid car was too expensive, and told staff to find a cheaper yet still fuel-efficient car to replace one of its three vehicles that are shared by employees as part of official city business.
“There are fuel-efficient cars out there that are a heck of a lot cheaper than [$26,000] for a [Toyota] Prius,” said City Council member Don Perry.
In addition to approving the placement of nearly $900,000 worth of other new vehicle purchases into the city’s preliminary 2010 budget, council members also agreed to consider another $12,500 to convert the city’s sole hybrid car, used by the solid waste division, into a fully electric vehicle.
The new vehicle purchases would be for three police cars, a fire engine, a garbage truck, a portable message board and a hydro seeder. Also included in that amount is the cost of rebuilding another police car.
Replacing police cars
The $105,900 in new vehicle purchases for the Port Angeles Police Department would be for replacing two 2001 Chevrolet Impalas with 2010 Dodge Chargers or Ford Crown Victorias and for adding another Charger or Crown Victoria to its fleet for one of its two new police officers, said Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith.
The car that will be rebuilt is a 1999 Crown Victoria. The cost is estimated at $10,000.
Smith said the two Impalas are not being rebuilt because the department has found them to not be suitable for police work.
“They’re not the right tool for the job,” he said.
“They don’t hold up in heavy police use like a Crown Vic or a Charger.”
At the time they were purchased, the department was looking for a more fuel-efficient patrol car, Smith said.
But, he said, their overall fuel efficiency is actually worse than the other vehicles because their smaller engines are not made for handling the higher speeds required with police use.
A new fire engine will cost the Port Angeles Fire Department about $432,000.
Fire Chief Dan McKeen said the new vehicle would replace the eldest of its two fire engines, which is 20 years old.
Reliability a concern
At that age, reliability becomes too much of a concern, he said.
“A fire engine is not something you discard when it falls apart,” McKeen said. “You don’t want it to fall apart.
“With public safety, you need vehicles that are always reliable.”
The replacement would also allow the department to move its primary fire engine, which is 11 years old, into secondary status, he said.
McKeen said that simply means it would be used if the new fire engine is out on a call or if two vehicles are needed.
Clallam County Fire District No. 2 also shares one of its trucks with Port Angeles as a reserve vehicle, he said.
The vehicle that is being replaced will be declared surplus, and sold if possible, McKeen said.
The fire engine would be purchased through the department’s equipment services fund.
“We’ve been paying into that fund for the last 10 years,” McKeen said. “We have the funds to replace it.”
The money for the three new police vehicles and rebuilding the 1999 Crown Victoria would come out of the city’s general fund.
The new garbage truck would replace one that is 10 years old and cost $300,000.
The message board and hydro seeder are state requirements and together cost $33,500.
During the discussion of the request to purchase a second hybrid Tuesday, staff told the City Council that the purpose of the request was to set an example for the general public as well as to address lower fuel costs.
‘A second message’
“It also sends a second message that we are sending more than we need to, to replace a vehicle in the motor pool,” said City Council member Dan Di Guilio.
Glenn Cutler, city public works director, on Wednesday referred to the funding request for converting the hybrid into an fully electric vehicle as a more of a placeholder rather than city policy for the next year.
“There’s a move across the county to reduce emissions,” he said. “We’re looking at the benefits of doing that.
“We’re considering it; we’re putting it in the budget. There’s no decision.”
The Prius is used by the city’s waste reduction specialist, Helen Freilich.
Freilich said she uses it to drive to clubs, schools or public events to speak about conservation; attend workshops in Seattle and Kitsap County to learn how the city can become more efficient when dealing with its own waste; and distribute pamphlets on the same subject.
She said it is also used by other city employees for long trips as part of city business.
Freilich said the city acquired it in December 2005 at no cost as part of a trade-in of its former “recycle mobile.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
