By Amy Batista, Special Writer
The township plans to purchase two new sport utility vehicles for the police department.
Chief Ronald Mulhall requested a letter of intent from the Township Committee to purchase the vehicles during its meeting last week.
”Currently, the newest vehicles in our fleet were two 2011 Ford Crown Victoria police interceptors,” said Chief Mulhall. “One of those was totaled in a car crash in December of last year.”
A new 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe that the department already purchased will replace the patrol vehicle that was involved in the accident while responding to an emergency. The police department expects delivery of the new vehicle in the next month. Chief Mulhall said the township purchased the vehicle as part of the Cranford cooperative and is a three-year lease purchase.
”The first year’s lease payment was partial paid by the pay out on the totaled vehicle from the insurance company and the balance the police department paid for out of our operating budget for 2013,” Chief Mulhall added.
There are 13 sworn officers in the Mansfield Township Police Department. The township currently has seven vehicles in its police fleet, which primarily consists of Crown Victorias.
Two of the vehicles are used vehicles that the township purchased at a government auction in Manheim. Two other vehicles were purchased in 2008.
The department wants to purchase another 2013 Cheverlot Tahoe in order to “retire” a patrol supervisor vehicle that has 173,000 miles on it, according to Chief Mulhall.
”The mileage on the vehicle doesn’t account for the idle time on the engine, which Ford’s guidance on that is 33 miles per hour of idle time, which should be factored into the wear and tear on the vehicle overall,” Chief Mulhall said.
According to Chief Mulhall, the “sole four-wheel drive” vehicle in the fleet is out of service due to engine trouble.
”The 2004 Dodge Durango in late July, early August, the engine threw a rod and ended up needing to be replaced and our mechanic’s opinion is it’s not worth spending the money required,” Chief Mulhall said.
The department is looking to acquire one four-wheel drive and one two-wheel drive Chevy Tahoe through the Cranford cooperative.
”So we can get competitive pricing similar to what is available under state contract,” Chief Mulhall said.
Mr. Monzo said, “In order for us to move forward, we would have to have a bond ordinance introduced and adopted to provide for the funding for that.”
According to Mr. Monzo, the committee can introduce the bond ordinance on Sept. 25 and then hold a public hearing and adoption on Oct. 9.