August 6, 2021 at 4:58 p.m.
City presented with vehicle proposal
Enterprise says lease program would save city more than $450,000 over 10 years
City presented with vehicle proposal
Buy or lease?
That’s a question the City of Portland is considering after Portland Board of Works heard a presentation Thursday afternoon from Enterprise Fleet Management.
Tom Green of Enterprise Fleet Management met virtually with the board to explain his company’s program. It offers an “open-end lease” in order to allow municipalities to acquire new vehicles without a large upfront cost. Through the program, it seeks to save money for the municipality by lowering maintenance and fuel costs with newer-model cars. Enterprise would manage the city’s “fleet” and establish a replacement plan.
Such a contract would cover all of the city’s 26 vehicles used by the police, fire, street and parks, water and wastewater departments. (Large vehicles such as firetrucks are not included.) Currently, Green said, the city replaces vehicles after an average of 8.67 years with annual maintenance costs of $39,000 and annual fuel costs of $48,821.
The enterprise proposal calls for vehicles to be replaced about every three years, with Portland acquiring 11 new vehicles in 2022, nine in 2023 and seven in 2024 to replace the entirety of its fleet. It would then continue to rotate lease vehicles depending on mileage, use and other factors.
Enterprise’s proposal to the city estimates it will reduce maintenance costs to $12,274 by the fifth year of the agreement — a savings of 69% — and cut fuel costs to $39,057 — a savings of 20%. In total, the company estimates it would save the city $463,912 over a 10-year period.
“We’re constantly re-evaluating for you,” said Green. “Because who knows what the car market will look like next year. So we always aim to put our clients in the best possible position and the overall goal is ongoing fleet management.”
Board of works members Portland Mayor John Boggs, Jerry Leonhard and Steve McIntosh discussed the proposal briefly, agreeing they needed more time to review the proposal. Boggs noted the benefit of such a system would be simplifying the process rather than looking for new vehicles each time one is needed.
“When they look at next year, they go to the manufacturer direct and say, ‘We want 11 vehicles for Portland’ and schedule for when they’re going to be delivered,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about that. We don’t have to worry about going out and getting three quotes on every car.”
Board of works members also plan to contact counties and municipalities that already partner with Enterprise for vehicles.
They include Kokomo, Logansport and Columbia City, and Delaware, Madison, Howard and Noble counties.
The board also approved amendments totaling $29,426 to the city’s contract with Wessler Engineering for its proposed Meridian Street sewer project.
Wessler did some additional engineering work for the project design and assisted the city with its application for a grant from Indiana Officer of Community and Rural Affairs.
The project would add a new sewer line under Meridian Street, running from near Race Street to the Salamonie River, in an effort to take pressure of Miller Branch and mitigate downtown flooding.
The board also noted that an update from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb temporarily allows law enforcement officers up to two years to complete training at Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. The shift comes after the academy was shut down last week because of an outbreak of COVID-19.
Ten students tested positive, the Indianapolis Star reported, and nine others had inconclusive tests.
Portland had an officer at the academy at the time of the outbreak and he was sent home without having completed the training.
In other business, the board approved the following:
•Contracts with Seventh Street residents Michael and Peggy Peterson and Ron Hamilton for work to remove the homes from a combined sewer line. The work will allow the city to remove at least one combined sewer overflow, possibly two, on the east side of the city as part of its agreed order with Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
•The purchase of a new leaf vacuum from Bonnel Industries at a cost of $99,287.
•A contract with Midwest Pet Refuge for two no parking signs near its facility. The organization had already paid for the signs.
That’s a question the City of Portland is considering after Portland Board of Works heard a presentation Thursday afternoon from Enterprise Fleet Management.
Tom Green of Enterprise Fleet Management met virtually with the board to explain his company’s program. It offers an “open-end lease” in order to allow municipalities to acquire new vehicles without a large upfront cost. Through the program, it seeks to save money for the municipality by lowering maintenance and fuel costs with newer-model cars. Enterprise would manage the city’s “fleet” and establish a replacement plan.
Such a contract would cover all of the city’s 26 vehicles used by the police, fire, street and parks, water and wastewater departments. (Large vehicles such as firetrucks are not included.) Currently, Green said, the city replaces vehicles after an average of 8.67 years with annual maintenance costs of $39,000 and annual fuel costs of $48,821.
The enterprise proposal calls for vehicles to be replaced about every three years, with Portland acquiring 11 new vehicles in 2022, nine in 2023 and seven in 2024 to replace the entirety of its fleet. It would then continue to rotate lease vehicles depending on mileage, use and other factors.
Enterprise’s proposal to the city estimates it will reduce maintenance costs to $12,274 by the fifth year of the agreement — a savings of 69% — and cut fuel costs to $39,057 — a savings of 20%. In total, the company estimates it would save the city $463,912 over a 10-year period.
“We’re constantly re-evaluating for you,” said Green. “Because who knows what the car market will look like next year. So we always aim to put our clients in the best possible position and the overall goal is ongoing fleet management.”
Board of works members Portland Mayor John Boggs, Jerry Leonhard and Steve McIntosh discussed the proposal briefly, agreeing they needed more time to review the proposal. Boggs noted the benefit of such a system would be simplifying the process rather than looking for new vehicles each time one is needed.
“When they look at next year, they go to the manufacturer direct and say, ‘We want 11 vehicles for Portland’ and schedule for when they’re going to be delivered,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about that. We don’t have to worry about going out and getting three quotes on every car.”
Board of works members also plan to contact counties and municipalities that already partner with Enterprise for vehicles.
They include Kokomo, Logansport and Columbia City, and Delaware, Madison, Howard and Noble counties.
The board also approved amendments totaling $29,426 to the city’s contract with Wessler Engineering for its proposed Meridian Street sewer project.
Wessler did some additional engineering work for the project design and assisted the city with its application for a grant from Indiana Officer of Community and Rural Affairs.
The project would add a new sewer line under Meridian Street, running from near Race Street to the Salamonie River, in an effort to take pressure of Miller Branch and mitigate downtown flooding.
The board also noted that an update from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb temporarily allows law enforcement officers up to two years to complete training at Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. The shift comes after the academy was shut down last week because of an outbreak of COVID-19.
Ten students tested positive, the Indianapolis Star reported, and nine others had inconclusive tests.
Portland had an officer at the academy at the time of the outbreak and he was sent home without having completed the training.
In other business, the board approved the following:
•Contracts with Seventh Street residents Michael and Peggy Peterson and Ron Hamilton for work to remove the homes from a combined sewer line. The work will allow the city to remove at least one combined sewer overflow, possibly two, on the east side of the city as part of its agreed order with Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
•The purchase of a new leaf vacuum from Bonnel Industries at a cost of $99,287.
•A contract with Midwest Pet Refuge for two no parking signs near its facility. The organization had already paid for the signs.
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