Gurnee board OKs new vehicle after debate
On the surface, it was a simple item on Monday night's Gurnee village board meeting agenda, with trustees asked to approve spending $20,579 for a new fire department sport-utility vehicle.
But Trustee Greg Garner said the request was a big-picture issue to him and he questioned why the village seems compelled to spend money for new vehicles typically when the old models hit 70,000 miles.
"This is the taxpayer's dollar we're spending," Garner said, "and we need to spend it like we would our own dollar."
It the end, Garner was on the losing side of a 4-2 vote in favor of spending the $20,579 on a 2008 Ford Explorer for use by Gurnee's fire marshal. Mayor Kristina Kovarik said it was a good deal, with the price coming in about $2,000 under what was budgeted.
Village Administrator James Hayner said the fire marshal needed a new vehicle because the current one has about 70,000 miles and is 10 years old. He said the 1998 Ford Explorer has transmission problems.
Garner argued that Gurnee should aim to keep its vehicles for at least 100,000 miles because that no longer is considered high. He cited his concern about vehicle expenses during his trustee campaign last year.
Instead of spending the $20,579 on a new SUV, said Garner, the village should have considered spending $1,000 for transmission repair. He said village officials can save public money if employee vehicles are used longer.
"Either we're picking the wrong cars," said Garner, "or we're turning them over quicker than we should."
Trustee Hank Schwarz disagreed with Garner, saying police and fire vehicles can idle for several hours at an emergency scene. Schwarz added the SUV in question was used in flood duty in Gurnee and likely hauled heavy equipment, adding to wear and tear.
David Ohanian was the other trustee who dissented with Garner. When informed village employees perform most of the maintenance on the municipal vehicles, Ohanian said perhaps the quality of work should improve so they get more mileage.