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County amends sheriff vehicle purchase, adds $36,200 to get pursuit engines
Summary
Columbia County approved an amendment to reorder 10 sheriff vehicles with upgraded engines, adding $3,620 per vehicle ($36,200 total) funded from the county risk management fund after staff determined the originally received vehicles used investigator packages rather than pursuit engines.
Columbia County commissioners approved an amendment to a previously authorized purchase that will replace two delivered SUVs and reorder 10 sheriff patrol vehicles with turbo-style pursuit engines, adding $36,200 to the county’s cost.
The amendment, presented by Mr. Blanchard, a county staff member, responds to an inspection that found the first two delivered vehicles were fitted with an engine and package “designed more for investigators,” not road-patrol pursuit use. Blanchard said the vendor, Alan Jay, agreed to take back the two units, cancel the earlier order for eight vehicles and reorder the 10 vehicles the sheriff’s office said it needs.
The county will pay an additional $3,620 per vehicle to obtain the different model and engine — $36,200 total — and that extra cost will come from the county’s risk management fund because the initial two vehicles had been totaled, staff said. Blanchard described the procurement error as a mismatch in the specified police package: “There are multiple police packages that you can choose, and we chose one that didn’t have the specific engine that the sheriff’s office needed.”
Commissioners moved the amendment and approved it on consent. The two vehicles that had been received remain at fleet pending return to the vendor, and staff said those units had not yet been outfitted for patrol use.
Why it matters: The item adjusts a previously approved fleet purchase and commits county risk funds to match sheriff specifications for pursuit operations. The change came after staff review and vendor agreement to exchange the vehicles rather than keeping the delivered models.
What’s next: The county will proceed with the reordered specification and return the incorrect units to the vendor; no additional action was recorded beyond the approval on consent.
