As part of a larger discussion on tightening the citys budget, Iola City Council members tackled the scheduling of replacing equipment at their meeting Tuesday night.
At issue is the citys long-standing but informal policy in which departments divert a portion of their budget each year into an equipment reserve fund. Then, when enough money has been accrued, department heads weigh factors, such as departmental knowledge of a piece of equipment (including vehicles) before requesting a new replacement.
City Administrator Sid Fleming presented Council members with lists of vehicles and other equipment, detailing each items description, expected life span, when the city plans to replace it and the associated cost, and the equipments current value.
Councilman Ron Ballard said his problem with the system boils down to expected life spans, contending the city is replacing some equipment particularly vehicles much earlier than it should.
Our fleet is way too big, he said. Were spending way too much money.
Council members also discussed whether the city should implement a maintenance tracking system to better gauge whether equipment should be replaced as early if such costs have been minimal.
Well have better records of these vehicles and know for sure what is being done, Councilman Gene Myrick said.
Councilman Mark Peters, meanwhile, wondered if the city could better catalog when and how often departments use their equipment to see if vehicles or other apparatuses could be shared.
He pointed to the citys five backhoes, four in the Gas, Water and Wastewater Department and one in Parks and Recreation. Could the city get by with fewer if departments shared them, he asked.
Peters also wondered if the Police Department could get by with fewer than seven patrol vehicles if officers shared use of each.
Ballard spoke about a checklist he presented to Fleming for the Councils consideration, which incorporated many of the same items Fleming said the city uses informally, but includes a more accurate expected life span line item, and includes questions about how often a vehicle is used, and whether departments could get by without it.
It sounds like we need to come up with clarification for staff, Mayor Jon Wells said.
What do we need or want before we do a purchase? Wells asked the Council. What do you need to know about each purchase item, and what do you want to hear?
What everybodys saying is we need parameters, Councilman Aaron Franklin said.
The thing we need to get away from is saying we have to replace something in 10 years, Ballard said.
