East Granby Finance Board Approves Purchase of Police SUV

The East Granby board of finance on Tuesday unanimously agreed in a 6-0 vote to purchase a new, fully equipped police SUV for $30,915.

The finance board allocated $32,000 out of the town’s capital, non-recurring fund for the purchase of a 2012 Ford Explorer from Massachusetts-based MHQ. Any overage allocate for the purchase will be returned to the town.

The town received three estimates for the vehicle, according to First Selectman Jim Hayden, with MHQ’s coming in lower than Selig Ford ($32,800) and Family Ford ($33,675).

The SUV will be equipped with exterior markings and a push bar, and the vehicle’s radio and police lights will be installed by MHQ as well.

The new vehicle will replace the town’s oldest cruiser, a 2004 sedan with “110,000 hard miles on it,” Hayden said.

That sedan will, in turn, replace the previously re-purposed cruiser, which is currently used by the department of public works supervisor, Hayden said.

The vehicle currently used by the DPW will then be sold, according to Hayden, for about $1,500.

Finance board member Tami Zawistowski noted that the SUV will cost about $1,000 less than a police cruiser.

Hayden replied that the the price of regular cruisers may be going up as Ford is would no longer manufacturing the Crown Victoria, which easily the most popular-model vehicle for standard police cruisers.

In other business, the finance board also approved a $32,124.69 payment to the Municipal Interlocal Risk Management Agency as the third of five installments the town must pay to cover the worker’s compensation carrier’s 2009 assessment that affected 60 towns in the state.

This year’s installment, which covers both the town’s municipal and school district liability, is $3,348.72 less than the 2010-11 assessment installment that was paid.

“We have been told that as claims are resolved, our assessment liability could be reduced,” Hayden wrote in a memorandum to the finance board.