County approves bid for four new deputy vehicles

Backlog of vehicle delivery continues

Posted 9/27/22

Park County policy dictates that emergency vehicles be traded in at 85,000 miles. 

“We can’t do that,” sheriff Scott Steward told county commissioners last Tuesday. …

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County approves bid for four new deputy vehicles

Backlog of vehicle delivery continues

Posted

Park County policy dictates that emergency vehicles be traded in at 85,000 miles. 

“We can’t do that,” sheriff Scott Steward told county commissioners last Tuesday. “These are all pushing 120,000. One of these we pushed in the driveway, It wouldn’t start.”

Supply chain issues have caused serious issues with the ability of the department to acquire new vehicles, and although Steward said it hasn’t led to any safety issues, it led commissioners to vote 4-1 to go with the higher of the two bids for four new trucks due in large part to Denny Menholdt’s commitment to delivering the trucks as soon as possible. That was a big selling point as the sheriff still has yet to see the four Dodge Ram trucks ordered last year, the money for which the county carried over into the new budget. 

Commissioner Scott Mangold was the lone vote against the vote to approve Denny Menholdt’s bid of $132,500 after trade in — the department is only trading in three to keep one in reserve — saying they were looking at a future where every penny would be more important and thus he couldn’t overlook Fremont’s $114,740 price tag after trade in. 

“We need to watch our change, but we currently have Dodges on order and we still haven’t gotten them,” commissioner Joe Tilden said. “We have an obligation for the sheriff’s department to patrol.”

Bert Miller, general manager at Denny Menholdt, said the Chevys could probably be delivered in eight months based on the current order cycle. 

“Time is truly of the essence,” he said. “I’m going to do everything I can in my power to get your trucks.”

Both bids were for standard crew cab work trucks, but Miller said his dealership added a second bid at a higher price that would avoid fleet vehicle purchasing but enable the new vehicles to have the powered driver’s seats the department had initially asked for. But Steward said for a lot of savings deputies could live without powered seats. 

Commissioner Lee Livingston said he gave a lot of weight during the discussion on bids to the fact that a representative from Denny Menholdt was there to talk with them. 

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