RED SPRINGS — The Red Springs Board of Commissioners was told Tuesday that the town’s Police Department is in need of new vehicles.
Police Chief Ronnie Patterson told the commissioners during a presentation that most of the vehicles are about 10 years old and have more than 100,000 miles on them.
“The life of them is about five years,” Patterson said. “I think this year we’ve already spent about $40,000 to $50,000 in repairs.”
Patterson said four of the vehicles can be surplussed. Two are Crown Victorias — one with 189,429 miles and the other with about 167,600 miles — and two Malibus that are used as back-up vehicles or at the schools for school resource officers. Patterson said that the town should get a good amount of money back from the Malibus, which each has about 60,000 miles.
“We’re not even hardly using those cars,” Patterson said. “When our cars break down, we use them as backup but they have no radios and no blue lights in them.”
The department is supposed to purchase or trade out at least two cars each year, he said. The longer the department keeps the cars, the harder it will be to trade them out, he said.
“I’m not asking for it in this year’s budget but we definitely got to look for next year,” Patterson said.
The commissioners made no comments on the matter.
In other business, the board unanimously approved a budget amendment to pay overdue invoice fees from the Police and Fire departments. Town Manager David Ashburn said vendors recently contacted the town regarding unpaid bills in the amount of $3,798 from the Police Department in 2018, and $1,645 from the Fire Department in 2016 and 2017. Mayor Ed Henderson said that matter needed action from the board because the invoices date back to previous fiscal years.
“It’s not explainable for us to be this far behind in our invoices,” Henderson said. “We’re a town and we need to pay our bills. This is costing the town money we should not have to pay.”
Patterson said that the Police Department usually gets a quote and then a purchase order that is taken to the Finance Department to get approval.
“We don’t have any dealings with it after then until the vendors start calling,” Patterson said. “Maybe it should have been caught before July 1, but we would have no knowledge of it.”
Commissioner Caroline Sumpter asked the board if paying the bills would affect future purchases for the Police Department in the current fiscal year.
“We will move funds as needed,” Henderson said.
In other business, the board:
— Tabled a request for the town to sponsor American Indian Mothers Inc. The nonprofit provides “education, health, social service and agriculture and cultural needs of American Indians and minorities residing in North Carolina,” according to its website.
— Tabled a matter involving the Chamber of Commerce’s utility bill. The matter was not discussed.
— Recessed the meeting until Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. at which time the town’s finances will be discussed with the Local Government Commission.
