Logan County Board to vote on 12 new vehicles for Sheriff's Office

 

[August 21, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

On Thursday, August 16, the Logan County Board held its monthly workshop to hear committee updates and place items on the agenda for vote on Tuesday. One focus of discussion was the purchase of 12 new squad cars and several two-way radios for the Sheriff’s Office.

Board member Bob Farmer, who chairs the Safety Committee, said he would bring forward a motion for the purchases.

Sheriff Steve Nichols said says he contacted Jim Xamis through the Bob Ridings Corporation. They carry the state bid for the squad cars. Nichols said after getting the bid, he had the pricing compared with another agency and then went back to Mr. Xamis and got a better price.

Nichols said Xamis’ price is $600 to $900 a car more than another agency not in the county, but Nichols feels it is better to stay local in case something happens to the cars. Nichols said over the last 16 years, they have run numerous investigations where they needed a car and they could go out and see Mr. Xamis and Mr. Graue and both have been very hospitable about giving the sheriff’s office a car to use without asking any questions.

Nichols said they could go with a three or four-year lease. The annual payment on a three-year lease would be $138,821.46 for all the cars. For a four-year lease, the payment would be $106,420.13, but over the lifetime of the lease, the interest would cost $10,000 more. Going with the three-year lease would save the $10,000.

Nichols said he understands they could save $6,000 to $8,000 going out of the county to get the cars, but feels it is more beneficial to purchase the vehicles from within the county.

Board member Emily Davenport asked if the figures included everything as far as hardware and anything inside that needs to be put in the car.

Nichols said the cost includes lighting and packages on the car, but they would still have to do the console and get the radios mounted in the cars. He said the cars would be 75 percent outfitted for the price.

Nichols said they have used the sale of old cars to cover expenses for some of the equipment in the past.

Board member Gene Rohlfs asked how sales of the old cars are handled.

Nichols said they take the cars to Xamis who goes through them and gives the department a bid. Xamis usually ends up selling the cars at an auction in Morton. Nichols said they usually get $1,000 to $1,500 per car on cars that have almost 200,000 miles on them and are eight years old.

Board member Annette Welch asked if the cars were being priced for the next fiscal year.

Nichols said the cars need to be ordered by September to get the current price on it. They would probably not get the cars until November or December and the first payment would be in January.

Board member Kevin Bateman said patrol car prices tend to go up three percent each year, so by waiting until next fiscal year, they would probably pay an additional three-and-half percent per car.

Board member David Hepler asked Nichols if he could give a specific amount for the motion.

Nichols said the total amount for the 12 cars would be $397,865.00. The interest rate on the leases would 4.75 percent for three years and 4.70 for the four year.

Farmer said he would also bring forward a motion Tuesday to approve the purchase of new radios for the Sheriff’s Office.

Nichols said the system is the Starcom System, which is the same one the state police are using. The system would be through Motorola and Barbeck Communications out of Decatur.

Nichols said the system they are currently using is failing them and they cannot always hear one another. Nichols and Chief Deputy Mark Landers went to several places in the county that had caused the office issues. Nichols tested the new system and found that when he was in Latham Bank and Landers was at the desk at the complex in Lincoln, they could hear one another.

Nichols said the costs for this system would be $140,000 and he has enough left in this year’s budget to cover $70,000 for this year’s payment. The other $70,000 would be paid next year.

Nichols said the system would be used by Lincoln Police Department, Lincoln Rural Fire Department, and Lincoln Fire Department. The other fire departments and agencies have been offered the system and it is up to them whether they get a portable or mobile radio to communicate with them.

Nichols said Motorola Barbeck will be responsible for the infrastructure of the system. If anything goes wrong with the portables in the first three years, Motorola Barbeck will replace them.

Nichols said currently the county pays $250,000 to EMA/911 and half is for infrastructure needs. Nichols feels using Motorola Barbeck could cut the costs in half, saving about $125,000 a year.

Nichols said they have look at both mobile and portable radios for the squad cars. Nichols said they prefer a mobile radio for back up but said they could go with half the cars having mobile radios and half having portable radios with a centrally located antenna.

Rohlfs asked the price of the hand held [or portable] radios.

Nichols said the hand-held radios are $4,500 per radio and the mobile radios for the cars are in the $2,400 to $2,600 range.

These motions will be voted on at the Regular Board meeting Tuesday, August 21.

[Angela Reiners]