Council Approves Lease-Purchase Agreement for Police Vehicles

As part of Jefferson Township’s preliminary budget discussion, police chief Kevin Craig asked for, and the council approved a new lease-purchase agreement with the Warnock Auto Group for new police cars.

As part of the regular fleet rollover, Craig said that eight police vehicles are scheduled for replacement. He noted that 2011 is the last year that Ford will make its Crown Victoria model, one traditionally used for police cars.

“If we do the rollover this year, we will have extra time to research a new make and model to purchase, and confer with other police departments to see what is working for them,” Craig said.

The council discussed other parts of the 2011 budget at its meeting earlier this week.

“We try to keep the operating budget at about $1 million,” said Jefferson business administrator James Leach. “Right now we are at about $1.5 million, which needs to be pared down.”

The overwhelming majority of the budget is earmarked for road paving and drainage projects, Leach said. There is also “some stuff for recreation, and communications and technology,” he added.

Communication and technology accounts for more than $100,00 of the budget. The requests include $40,000 for upgrades to radios and communication equipment for the two rescue squads and fire departments in town.

The police department is requesting $35,000 for upgrades to computers and equipment.

A $50,000 item in the budget would go toward virtualizing the police department, including putting multiple virtual servers on one physical server, thereby saving space and money.

Budget discussions are open to the public and will continue on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in council chambers.

In other council news, Leach announced that the recycling center now accepts tires.

“There are several sections of town where it has become commonplace to dump tires,” Leach said. “It presents a problem in the summer with mosquitoes when standing water collects in the tires.”

Accepting tires will not cost the township any extra money, as they will be collected only at times the recycling center is already open, and there is a nominal fee to residents for dropping off tires.

“This will not entirely alleviate the problem of tires being dumped around town,” Mayor Russell Felter said. “But it will give residents a place to bring them.”

Felter also announced the formation of the Trails Committee, which will be tasked with planning walking trails at various places throughout town. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at Camp Jefferson and all interested parties are invited to attend.