Town Motor Pool Has Few Vehicles On A Take-Home Plan

By John Voket

Joe Borst may get up in the morning and head to work in a late model Jeep SUV bearing the conspicuous license plate “NT1,” but the first selectman is just one of about a dozen Newtown employees who regularly take home a town-owned vehicle. The first selectman’s 2002 Cherokee is also a long way from the bottom of a surprisingly long list of vehicles of many makes and sizes which are ultimately owned and maintained by Newtown’s taxpayers.

The town’s motor pool contains a variety of vehicles from a huge Dresser road grader to a Club-Car four-wheel-drive ATV that is housed at the Sandy Hook fire headquarters; from the Police Departments 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle to a 1985 Kubota tractor that is still chugging away at the Parks & Recreation Department; from a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid SUV that is available for various town personnel to a 1999 John Deere high capacity mower that is still clearing brush from town roadsides.

All told, Newtown and its taxpayers collectively own and maintain nearly 150 different vehicles.

Among the cars, SUVs and light trucks assigned to town personnel are Mr Borst’s aforementioned Jeep Cherokee, Police Chief Michael Kehoe’s 2005 Ford Explorer, Captain Joe Rios’ 2003 Ford Crown Victoria and a specially equipped K-9 unit — a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria — which is assigned to Officer Andrew Stinson.

The fire marshal’s office assigns a 2006 Ford Expedition to its top officer, William Halstead, who also responds in that vehicle in his capacity as Chief of Sandy Hook Fire and Rescue. A 2008 Ford F-150 pick-up is also assigned to a full-time deputy fire marshal, who also may respond to fire calls in that vehicle.

In addition, both Sandy Hook and the Hook & Ladder fire companies are assigned 2007 Ford four-wheel-drive full size pick-up trucks for the on-duty use of company officers in rotation.

Six of the eight vehicles assigned to the Newtown school district go home with their operators, including a 2003 Chevrolet pick-up truck assigned to facilities director Gino Faiella. A 2006 Ford Super Cab pick-up, two 2000 Chevrolet Astro vans, a 2002 Dodge Dakota light pick-up, and a 2008 GMC Sierra full-size pick-up go home with trades and maintenance employees who are on 24-hour call for school facilities emergencies.

Two 2002 Chevrolet light pick-up trucks are assigned to the town engineer and deputy director of public works respectively, while Public Works Director Fred Hurley is assigned a town-owned 2005 Chrysler mini-van.

Other specialty use vehicles in the town motor pool include the Police Department’s Chrysler PT Cruiser which is available for the town’s DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) or school resource officers, and a recently acquired 2006 Ford van which is outfitted for crime scene and command responses. The police also have a registered 2003 Mighty Mover trailer mounted with the department’s stationary speed control device, which registers motorists speed on local roads with a brightly lit display.

The newest addition to the town’s fleet is a 2009 Sterling 10-wheel heavy duty dump truck, which was acquired at a deeply discounted price through a state vehicle purchase cooperative for the Park & Recreation Department. And anyone who is itching to take that department’s 2003 Mustang out for a spin will soon discover that it is not a Ford sports car, but a medium sized bucket loader.

The local Planning and Zoning office, and the town Building Department are each assigned a trio of light pick-ups, with two others being assigned to the Newtown Health District. A third 2007 Ford pick-up is shared between the Health District and the Fairfield Hills Authority.

Newtown’s Development Director Elizabeth Stocker has the use of a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu when she is on the job. The assessor’s office has use of a 2000 Chevrolet pick-up, while the emergency communications supervisor Maureen Will is assigned a 1997 Ford Taurus sedan for on-duty use.

The Senior Center’s 1999 Ford Cutaway bus is used for local group transport, while the town conservation officer and the local sewer authority both utilize 10-year-old Chevrolet light pick-ups.

Making Them Last

Newtown’s various fire companies take great pride when they take delivery of new vehicles, but take equal pride in saving taxpayers the average cost of a half-million-dollar fire truck by refurbishing existing stock and extending those vehicles useful lives. Among the fire vehicles still in service are a 1979 Seagrave pumper and a 1985 Pierce pumper assigned to Hook & Ladder, the town’s busiest company.

Sandy Hook’s 1987 Kenworth Tanker has also seen its share of responses in its 22-plus years of service. Hook & Ladder also houses the town’s newest fire apparatus, a 2007 Pierce Dash pumper.

Besides this variety of vehicles owned and operated by the town, taxpayers also enjoy savings as a result of the town employing a contingent of vehicle repair and maintenance mechanics, who do much of their work in the town garage on Turkey Hill Road. Overseen by Mr Hurley, the vehicle mechanics are not only trained to maintain and repair virtually every passenger vehicle, but all of the town’s pieces of heavy equipment and the complex variety of fire apparatus as well.

“We maintain the fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, plows and the heavy vehicles like the grader and street sweeper,” Mr Hurley said. “With the cooperation of our various fire companies, we keep the mechanics all updated and certified with the technical knowledge they need to work on all the town apparatus. You won’t find that kind of expertise at a local repair garage.”

Although Mr Hurley said the town does reach out to “virtually every repair garage in town,” to do occasional vehicle work that he determines is less costly when it is farmed out to local private vendors.

He said, for example, the town contracts all its body shop and vehicle painting work, because the cost to maintain such a facility would be prohibitive for taxpayers due to the stringent federal safety and environmental guidelines applied to such enterprises.

Mr Hurley said that performing regular routine service like oil changes keeps his mechanics on top of minor repairs that might otherwise escalate to costly work if not caught during routine maintenance. He also mentioned that by having the town mechanics on staff, who can do virtually any repair, helps the town save money because it can remain competitive with local vendors who are vying for routine repair work.

Another example of how the town saves money with its own vehicles, Mr Hurley said, is related to local street sweeping. When the former outside vendors for the service doubled their pricing last year, Mr Hurley said putting town workers out on the town-owned sweeper exclusively has saved “a ton of money,” even though the local crews may be doing some of the work on evenings and weekends.

According to Newtown Finance Director Robert Tait, the next new vehicle acquisitions will involve several new police cars — intended to replace patrol cars, as well as two new pieces of fire department apparatus, which can take as long as 18 months to design, build and equip for service.