Wheels and deals for Board of Works

Monday, September 28, 2020

There won’t necessarily be more police cars hitting the streets of Greencastle, just new and better models.

Following a presentation by Police Chief Tom Sutherlin, the Board of Public Works and Safety agreed to a $168,267 proposal from Andy Mohr Ford, Plainfield, for the purchase of three 2021 Ford Explorers.

The three cars -- with a base price of $37,636 each (or $112,990 for three) -- will come with $40,121 in equipment, $13,886 for radios and $1,350 for police decals, Sutherlin said.

The city will use its public safety LIT (Local Income Tax) to fund the purchase.

While the last purchase of police cars required a six-month wait for their arrival, Sutherlin noted that “these three vehicles are sitting on the ground at Andy Mohr.”

The police chief said he and Mayor Bill Dory have established a schedule for replacing police cars.

The cars being replaced, Sutherlin said, will go to the reserve pool, while cars in the reserve pool will be used as trade-ins. A pair of 2010 Dodge Chargers and a 2006 Charger will be replaced this time.

“That takes all the Chargers off the streets,” Chief Sutherlin said.

Mayor Dory noted that the next scheduled police car purchase in the rotation will come in 2025.

“We expect the Ford Explorers to last longer than the Chargers,” he reasoned.

Next to be replaced are the chief’s Chevrolet Tahoe and the assistant chief’s vehicle, although the schedule is always subject to change, Dory said.

Board member Trudy Selvia made the motion to go ahead with the police car purchase subject to financing. Craig Tuggle and Mayor Dory made the vote unanimous.

In other business, the board selected a $297,990 bid from Joe Spiker Excavating for the phosphorous project at the wastewater treatment plant.

Spiker’s bid was considerably lower than the two other options of $484,000 and $834,000 from out-of-town bidders.

The building site “is less than 200 feet from their (Spiker’s) back door,” engineering consultant Lori Young of Curry & Associates Engineers, Danville, noted. “Spiker did a great job on the last building.”

Back in May the board agreed to apply for an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) permit for a phosphorous removal effort and garage project at the wastewater treatment plant. A new 3,100-square-foot building will include two large bulk tanks, three maintenance bays and a 13 x 30-foot chemical storage room totally closed off to prevent any chemical vapor from getting into the rest of the building.

The project will include about $44,000 worth of new equipment and some in-house work for installation as well. Wastewater Superintendent Oscar King Jr. said he will look into equipment costs before the next meeting.

Mayor Dory said the amount of phosphorous to be added to the wastewater system daily is not significant and that Greencastle was very close to meeting the IDEM standard without the chemical addition. The low dose -- a couple of parts per million -- will be added initially at 70 gallons per day to start and then drop to 35 gallons, King said previously.

The Board of Works will next meet in regular session at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21 at City Hall.

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