Discussion Continues on Outsourcing Vehicle Repairs to Downers Grove

Members of the continued to discuss the prudence of to Downers Grove during Monday night’s meeting.

Questions from aldermen and other attendees focused on whether the city would ultimately save money once the man-hours associated with traveling to and from Downers Grove’s maintenance shop were factored into the cost. 

The working proposal between the two cities has Darien paying $87 an hour for the first 1,100 hours of work Downers Grove’s mechanics perform. Darien would pay $45 an hour after that. 

Until this summer, Darien employed Matt Coulman as a full-time mechanic who also did other work. Coulman, who attended Monday’s meeting, retired this summer. 

Tom Masek, another Public Works employee who also attended the meeting, assisted Coulman with vehicle repairs and has been filling his role for the past several months.

While Masek’s job would remain the same, under this plan the city would not hire a replacement for Coulman.

Last year Darien’s vehicles required 1,541 hours to repair. 

Under the proposal with Downers Grove, those repairs would cost $115,545, plus about $30,000 for parts and transportation. The total cost of employing a mechanic at Coulman's level, including benefits, uniforms and tools, is about $158,000, a cost comparison chart showed. 

In recent years, the shortest time spent on repairs was around 1,180 hours. Under that scenario with Downers Grove, labor, parts and transportation would cost Darien about $129,000.

“Really the big weakness is their shop is further away than ours is,” said Assistant City Administrator Scott Coren.

Downers Grove does, however, have a service vehicle that could come to Darien to deal with some repairs. 

In addition to the cost savings, Coren said that Darien could benefit from some new processes Downers Grove has tried, including inflating tires with nitrogen, which doubles the lifespan.

Retired Darien police officer Leonard Catalano said he was concerned about the lost man hours associated with driving squad cars to Downers for repairs. Officers need to drive the cars because of the ammunition and equipment inside, he said. 

“(In this scenario,) these people aren’t doing their job,” he said. “They’re basically just driving cars back and forth.”

When using the Darien repair shop, he said officers are still in town and able to go out on calls as necessary. 

The agreement would give Darien the flexibility to continue doing repairs in house or take some, such as oil changes, to local shops, limiting the amount of time dedicated to travel, Coren said. Masek’s job would remain the same.

“Really it just opens up another option for us,” Coren said.

Alderman Ted Schauer said he thought it would be more efficient to have Masek complete basic repairs and then send more major projects to Downers Grove. 

Alderman John Poteraske said he worried Downers Grove would prioritize its own repairs over Darien’s, especially in a scenario such as a snowstorm where both cities might need to get broken-down plows back on the streets.

“Downers is going to take care of Downers first. I don’t care what they say,” he said. 

Alderman Tina Beilke suggested looking into what it would cost to hire an assistant for Masek at a lower cost. As long as it ultimately resulted in savings, she said she didn’t see an issue with filling the vacant position. 

City Administrator Bryon Vana said he didn’t see any downsides to the arrangement with Downers Grove. 

“I heard questions tonight,” he said. “Those will never be answered unless there’s some attempt to try this.” 

Downers Grove officials have yet to approve an agreement on their end. The Village Council is considering entering into with SEASPAR and School District 58, according to Downers Grove Patch.

Any resolution with Darien would be for a trial of one year, Coren said, but either party could exit the agreement early without a penalty if it didn’t work. 

“Theoretically we could get out in one day,” he said.

The committee will continue its discussion and examine the possibility of hiring an in-house assistant at the Jan. 9 meeting.