MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners on Thursday approved spending an estimated $472,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase six 2024 Dodge Durango Police Pursuit vehicles for the sheriff’s department.
The unanimous vote came after RCSO Maj. Joe Masi and Capt. Jim Sweat told commissioners that continuing supply chain issues and the United Auto Workers strike had reduced the department’s ability to procure law enforcement vehicles in traditional ways.
In fact, Sweat told the panel, none of the six vehicles ordered by the department through conventional means in 2023 have arrived yet.
Sweat told commissioners the department had found vehicles ready for purchase from the Jim Shorkey Group, a Pennsylvania auto dealer that the Mansfield Police Department has also used in recent years.
The vehicles are available now and will need to be “upfitted” with law enforcement equipment such as light bars, computers, etc. The total price per vehicle will be around $72,000, according to Sweat.
It’s the third straight year commissioners have approved using APRA funds for RCSO vehicles, including four in 2022 and six in 2023. The 2024 vehicles will push the total ARPA outlay for sheriff’s department vehicles to around $995,360.
Sweat said the cost of law enforcement vehicles has skyrocketed in recent years.
“In 2016, the last time we were able to buy the Chevy Impalas, it cost $38,000, equipped. That’s how far the prices have gone. We bought those Impalas for $20,000 each. The vehicles themselves now are around $44,000,” Sweat said.
Commissioners agreed there was an immediate need.
“You’re right. We need vehicles,” Commissioner Tony Vero said. “We don’t want to get behind in (the) line, especially with the current economy, the labor shortage and the UAW strike.
“We’ve tried to use ARPA for generational projects. But cruisers are unique and we feel it’s something the taxpayers certainly would want,” he said.
Commissioner Darrell Banks asked Sweat if the RCSO had other funds with which to purchase the vehicles.
Sweat said the department could transfer funds from its payroll and salaries line in 2023 due to positions not being filled, especially in the county jail.
“We would anticipate monies left in those line items to cover this price, if that’s the direction you chose to go,” Sweat said. “We could pay for this out of money that’s already been appropriated to the sheriff’s office budget with the transfer of those funds.”
Commissioners asked the opinion of county administrator Andrew Keller, who has overseen the administration of the ARPA funds.
“We have used (ARPA) twice for this purpose already. I don’t see any harm in doing it again,” Keller said.
Vero recommended using ARPA rather than general fund money, “especially with a $700,000 health insurance increase next year.”
Sweat will work with Keller to develop the paperwork needed for an ARPA expenditure award and will return for a formal approval by commissioners.
Commissioners OK ARPA notice of award for ‘L2’ work
Commissioners also approved the official $1.56 million ARPA award to Studer-Obringer Inc. of New Washington to serve as the general contractor on a project that will create relocation space for the county Clerk of Courts on “L2,” a floor that once housed the county jail.
The company was founded in 1967 by Clarence Studer and Bob Obringer and has been in business for 56 years, now in a second generation of owners.
According to the contract, the company would have 210 days from commencement of the work to have the project substantially completed.
Work to remove the old jail cells and prepare the space for the project began more than two years ago.
Commissioners have said the project meets two needs.
It provides more space for the Clerk of Courts office. It will also allow for the creation of a fourth courtroom, a request made by Common Pleas Court Judges Brent Robinson and Phil Naumoff.
The new courtroom in the former clerks’ office space would be used by both judges and their three magistrates and would also provide extra space for the county prosecutor to conduct grand jury sessions.
