 |
Colchester is facing a crisis – a vehicle crisis that has come to a head after years of the Capital Improvement Plan not being funded to the extent needed by our growing town. So what are we doing now?
We’ve pulled together a group of committed volunteers and staff members to undertake an extensive review of all of the Town of Colchester’s vehicles. As part of this review, they are collecting a wide-ranging amount of data so that substantive decisions about future repairs, purchases, and sales can be made. Data collection includes information regarding the age of the vehicle, purchase and replacement prices, type and cost of life-time repairs, use, mileage, and importance to the department’s being able to carry out their work.
Meanwhile, I am working with department heads to review immediate needs – those that cannot wait any longer. At this point, all of the equipment in question representing immediate concerns has appeared for more than five years in the needs outlined in Capital Improvement Plan; some of it for longer than that. Every day another piece of equipment is down for repair. Not only does this affect the work that piece of equipment handles for the day, the week, or the month it is down, it can also affect the safety of our staff/volunteers, as in the case of the fire police vehicle. Additionally, work output is affected as a particular piece of equipment is needed to do the preparation for follow-up work. And it affects many of you on a day-to-day basis. For example, at one point this summer we had two mowers
out-of-service, impacting mowing at the schools, the fields, the Green, and all public buildings. This plan for immediate needs will go to the Boards of Selectmen and Finance in September.
We must also address the issue of manpower to keep our fleet operational. During budget season several years ago, our Fleet Maintenance department “gave up” a mechanic in anticipation of the Town putting a functional operating plan into effect for vehicle purchases. Newer vehicles meant less extensive repairs, therefore the additional mechanic would not have been needed. That did not happen, so as vehicles age and need more and more major work done on them, our mechanics are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up.
The fiscal impact of continuing to repair equipment that is beyond its life is huge. As we are collecting data, we are finding that, in many cases, the funds spent on repairing a vehicle far exceed the replacement cost of the vehicle. Yes, it’s much easier to spend $2,000 or even $15,000 to repair a vehicle today instead of $60,000 or so to replace it. But, incurring these astronomical long term costs make for unsound fiscal policy – would you spend $60,000 to repair your $15,000 car?
For the short-term, staff and I will present a plan to the Boards of Finance and Selectmen to address the immediate needs focusing on safety issues, as well as getting the work done. Meanwhile, the team above will continue to collect data on our fleet in order that a comprehensive vehicle repair/replacement plan, backed by data, can be put into place.
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
| |
