VBT board discusses buying three F-250 2017 pick-up trucks

At the Aug. 15 work study session of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, Public Services Director James Taylor explained the three 2017 four-wheel-drive, pick-up trucks he wants to buy for the Buildings & Grounds fleet.
He said he went out for bids and received two. The bid of $85,200 from Atchinson Ford was $3,712.88 less than the only other bid received, he said. Jack Demmer Ford’s bid was $88,912.88.
Director Taylor said the purchase is in the budget in the Buildings and Grounds Capital Outlay account.
The purchase is scheduled to be on the agenda of the Sept. 6 regular township board meeting for consideration.
Taylor said the trucks are replacements for aging vehicles. He said the trucks perform a wide variety of maintenance tasks township-wide. They are used for snow removal and grounds maintenance for township properties, including the township’s five parks and four cemeteries, as well as support services for elections and other activities provided by a number of township departments.
“These trucks have gone beyond their service life and are requiring increased repair costs and down time with no added values,” he wrote in a memo to the board, adding the trucks are eight and nine years old.
Two of the trucks he recommended in the memo were F-250 Super Cabs, to be used by staff that requires more cab space for tools and gear, and one is a F-250 Regular Cab that requires a longer bed for hauling lumber, picnic tables, and other larger items used in the parks.
He said in the memo that the Super Cabs have become the standard for most of the trucks recently purchased in the Water & Sewer Department.
But, when he presented his proposal to the board at the work/study session, Taylor announced that he has reduced the two Super Cabs to Regular Cabs. He said the Super Cab was a step up to give more space, but it’s not absolutely essential.
He said the change reduces the price from $85,200 to $81,000.
“We’re not getting leather seats?” asked Trustee Jeff Jahr and Taylor said the seats were not leather.
Trustee Jahr noted that the trucks have 6.2L V8 gasoline engines and asked if a 6 cylinder would be OK.
“I’ll defer to you,” Jahr said. “I don’t want to question your judgment.” He said normally bare-bones pick-up trucks are used for maintenance crews.
“This is a far cry from that,” he said, “but, if that’s what you want…”
Taylor said they decided to go with the 6.2, but they will take a second look at it.
Trustee Reggie Miller asked what the life of a truck is, noting that the police department puts the life of a patrol car at 100,000 miles.
Taylor said these trucks have heavy usage and are pretty beat up. He said they lost one of those trucks for two weeks in December because it needed chassis work. When asked if they could trade the old trucks in, Taylor said they couldn’t but they would auction them off and the money goes back into the general fund.
Treasurer Sharry Budd asked what were the “hard miles” he said the trucks drove, since they mainly drive on paved surfaces.
Taylor replied it was pushing snow, running around a lot, pushing other things, and basically being work trucks.
Former Supervisor Paul White asked the mileage on the vehicles being replaced and Taylor said they were: 87,978, 75,335, and 59,468.
White said those mileages were not excessive and a lot of work trucks have 150,000 miles on them.
Taylor said the one with 59,468 miles cost the most in maintenance last year.
Trustee Miller asked if the township was getting a reduced rate for buying three instead of one and Taylor said he didn’t know, but they probably are getting a bulk rate. He said he would ask Craig Atchinson.
White asked if he will be coming back in three years to buy more trucks and Taylor said he expected these trucks to last another eight or nine years.
The new trucks, according to paperwork furnished to the board, included among other options: a vinyl 40/20/40 seat (steel), XL trim, XL Décor Package, molded black cab step, electronic shift 4 Wheel Drive Shift on the Fly, tele trailer tow mirror power, upfitter switch, remote start, and XL value package.