Sheriff's Department buying two new vehicles

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The purchase of a pair of new vehicles coupled with additional funds for existing vehicle maintenance and fuel costs are helping keep the Putnam County Sheriff's Department on the road.

On Monday, the Putnam County Commissioners approved the purchase of two 2012 Chevrolet Tahoes.

The vehicles will be leased through First National Bank for a combined total of $75,000. With a fixed interest rate of 2.57 percent, the three-year lease will be paid for in three annual payments of $26,314.02.

The purchase comes from money already budgeted to the sheriff's department, so no additional appropriations are required.

Two SUVs taken out of the sheriff's fleet were recently donated to local agencies. The two 2006 Ford Explorers were given to the Madison Township Fire Department and the Russellville Police Department.

The upkeep and fuel of sheriff's department vehicles was a topic of discussion at Tuesday's Putnam County Council meeting.

In June, Sheriff Steve Fenwick discussed the need for additional maintenance and fuel money for the department. At that time, Fenwick told the council that when the deputy force was increased by three officers four years ago, the budgets for vehicle maintenance and fuel were not increased accordingly.

There have also not been adjustments made for increased fuel costs in recent years.

The council approved two $35,000 appropriations -- one to fuel and one to maintenance -- for the sheriff's department.

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  • In recent years there has not been any adjustments made for fuel? Seriously? Don't you budget at some point for new officers? So......should you not increase your budget for fuel?....knowing that you are budgeting for additional officers.Maybe if they would not drive them out of county you would have more gas monies in your "budget". Have you ever thought of that? And....with this recession, you know that gas continues to go up. Just saying

    -- Posted by putcocvb on Thu, Jul 19, 2012, at 8:08 AM
  • Have you seen the way they drive??? lol

    -- Posted by bddrummer on Thu, Jul 19, 2012, at 1:28 PM
  • Got to give Sheriff credit for getting away from the gas guzzling race cars that are helpless in winter weather..

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Thu, Jul 19, 2012, at 6:03 PM
  • Gas guzzling race cars?? You think a Tahoe will get better gas mileage than Charger? Don't think so. Since Ford will not be making the dependable Crown Vic patrol car, you'll see more Chargers as the police car of choice.

    Depending on the state bid price for a car rather than a big ol' SUV, you can get roughly 3 patrol cars for that $75,000 instead of 2 SUV's with low gas mileage.

    The Sheriff's Dept. can reduce the gas expenditures more by changing the use of the county issued vehicle off duty. Some counties limit the off duty driving to one county over. With gas prices sure to be rising, the dept. needs to seriously look at the off duty use and possibly even limit it to only driving within Putnam County. This may not sit well with the deputies but it would stretch the gas budget so they can actually drive on patrol rather than going to the store.

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Thu, Jul 19, 2012, at 7:09 PM
  • Stealthmode, you obviously didn't read the 20 line article very well. They stated that when they added three deputies four years ago the budget was not adjusted, or increased, accordingly. So for the past four years the increased staff has been running on the previous fuel and maintenance budget, which would obviously be too low. So he's correcting the problem... Also known as, DOING HIS JOB. Along with the budget simply not being increased at the time the new deputies were added, you have to look at things like fuel prices increasing, and the vehicles now being four years older. It's plain to see re-budgeting for more money is a necessity. Unless your a toothless idiot who just spouts off random sentences to put some words on a website.

    bddrummer, they drive like they have things to do, and places to be. The typical reason for this is because they have things to do and places to be. Any story that comes out about Law Enforcement that jackasses can comment on, they throw in dumb comments like, "Have you seen the way they drive??? lol". Obviously people have seen how they drive. They are not invisible, and you make it sound like a circus act or something. Yes, they drive fast sometimes. But, if you called 911 and wanted them at your house right away and they took a few minutes, you'd be writing more uneducated/thoughtless comments about how long it took them to get there. So be grateful for a deputy once in awhile.

    deerehead, I agree 100%. It's not like we live in Anchorage or anything, but we do see some pretty nasty winters. Personally, I'd rather be in a four wheel drive Tahoe then a Dodge Charger when the county forgets to plow a road.

    purple_heat, I'm pretty sure you have no clue how much the Chargers cost and you just pulled the roughly three patrol cars for $75,000 out of your a**. You don't know the numbers and fail to realize that these vehicles are not your daily driver Honda Civic's. The Sheriff's Department has actually been keeping very good records of the mileage the deputies put on the cars. Take home vehicles serve the sole purpose of police presence. It has been proven, weather you want to argue about it or not, that a police presence deters crime by itself. I'm all for police cars driving around town, on or off duty. That is why they budget for these things.

    Congrats to the Sheriffs Department on solidifying two new Tahoe's and getting the extra funds they needed!

    -- Posted by hahahaha on Thu, Jul 19, 2012, at 10:41 PM
  • hahahaha....... that's what I did when I read your comments. I laughted. Calling people toothless as well as some of the other vulgar words you used with ****. If you are any type of business person, you'll know to increas your budget for rising gas prices. We have been in this recession almost four years, so the "Sheriff" or whoever really does their budget should know to increase their line items accordingly. You stated when they hired three deputies four years ago, they did not account for any gas prices rising over the next four years? Who in the HELL WOULD NOT increase their YEARLY budget after hiring three additional personnel? Do they have a freaking money tree in the back courtyard?

    -- Posted by putcocvb on Fri, Jul 20, 2012, at 8:29 AM
  • stealthmode, Again, you fail to make any rational statements. If you will read the story for the forth time you will clearly see that the sheriff IS increasing the budget for the fuel prices, thats one of the two main points of the story.

    Your mind must only work in sudden bursts, so you probably don't remember that in 2008 (which would have been 4 years ago... the time when all this occurred) Frisbee was being prosecuted for misappropriation of some $13,000 in funds, and Sheriff Fenwick was elected in the middle of this to fix the problems he created and get the Sheriffs Department back on track.

    Contrary to what people that sit in front of their computer all day believe. It takes more then two days to balance a budget for a county organization... He's getting his job done.

    Let me know what else you need clarified.

    -- Posted by hahahaha on Fri, Jul 20, 2012, at 9:03 AM
  • With all your knowledge, I hope you are in charge of an organization. You sure do have all of the answers. Quite honestly I would like to meet you in person. You might be fun to play with (maybe, but I'm sure I would get bored with you very fast). There isn't anyone else on here that knows more than you. Sounds like you know Steve and the Sheriff's department very well!

    -- Posted by putcocvb on Fri, Jul 20, 2012, at 12:01 PM
  • hahaha, I'm not pulling numbers out of my butt, however you should quit talking out of yours. I'll give you credit on one thing and that is you are right that police cars aren't like a Honda Civic. Before you go off spouting that I don't know what I'm talking about, I guess my last 20 years of working in law enforcement, dealing with budgets and purchasing police cars, going over polices (including off duty use of patrol cars) don't count.

    What I was saying (and apparantly you couldn't see this through your arrogance) is that with tight budgets, you can get 3 (yes 3) police cars for the price of those 2 Tahoes. I know of businesses that will sell a fully outfitted Charger for between $25,000 and $30,000 each. "Fully outfitted" means it comes with the striping package and all the equipment already on it. When you get it, it's ready for patrol work.

    I also know that police presences does deter crime. I think that if the gas budget is such a big deal, then the off duty use of the patrol vehicles needs to be rexamined. Those cars are to be used mainly for patrolling the county, not for running personal errands all over the county or other counties. Just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn't neccessarily mean it's the right way now. People need to think outside the box, but unfortunately Putnam County has a reputation for only thinking inside of it. Anyone that comes up with something that goes against the political norm is tossed aside.

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Fri, Jul 20, 2012, at 8:28 PM
  • Thank you once again, hahaha for showing just how ignorant you are. Glad that relative pulled some strings to get you in the position you're in. Good luck in your endeavors and keep talking out your butt cause it really helps show who you truly are.

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Sat, Jul 21, 2012, at 11:03 AM
  • Tahoes do get better mileage because the driver doesn't have near the ego vs.cruising in a race car!

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Sat, Jul 21, 2012, at 2:23 PM
  • hahahaha, you could be farther from the truth. I'm assuming you might be posting from the Sheriff's Department, in one of "your" cars since you're in law enforcement or somehow on "company time" or at least using county equipment. And by the way you misspelled equipped! I wish I knew your plate number and I would have my relatives stop you!

    -- Posted by putcocvb on Sun, Jul 22, 2012, at 10:37 AM
  • Thank you purple_heat for years in law-enforcement and thank you for standing up for what "us ordinary" citizens think. It's all about the common sense, not someone who thinks they know everything especially when they didn't work for this sheriff's office!!!

    -- Posted by putcocvb on Sun, Jul 22, 2012, at 10:40 AM
  • hahaha, I do know what I'm talking about. Sorry you don't feel that way or have a differing opinion. And just because our opinions are different doesn't mean you have to come on here and attack people. It seems like you have stirred stuff up more than others (even on other threads).

    I never once said anything derogatory about law enforcement in this county. In fact, I have posted postive things in the past and have steadfastly backed law enforcement while others bashed them. I just have an opinion about the buying these two vehicles.

    If calling people names on this website's comments section and lashing out at people make you feel better about yourself, then so be it. Have a nice life. :-))

    -- Posted by purple_heat on Sun, Jul 22, 2012, at 1:45 PM
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