Lake Forest Park committee reviews fleet-replacement plan, funding split for vehicle reserve

The Lake Forest Park Budget & Finance Committee on Wednesday reviewed a multi-year plan to replace aging police and public-works vehicles and to formalize how the city will finance those purchases.

City officials said many city vehicles have exceeded recommended service life and that rising fuel and maintenance costs, plus six- to 12-month lead times for new units, make orderly replacement a priority. "Many of our vehicles exceed the service life and the mileage limits," the Police Chief said when he opened the department's fleet presentation.

The committee discussion centered on three near-term and longer-term elements: which vehicles to replace immediately, how to allocate existing replacement funds, and how to phase in hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) over time. Administration materials show the city's fleet at 18 vehicles total: 10 patrol cars, five administrative/detective vehicles, and three other units (an emergency-management vehicle, a transport van and a canine/crime-watch vehicle). Staff identified an immediate need to replace four vehicles (three patrol vehicles and one transport van) and discussed buying two additional traffic-focused units through the traffic safety fund (referred to in materials as fund 002).

The finance director walked the committee through a proposed accounting approach for the vehicle-and-equipment replacement account (referred to in the presentation as fund 501). To clear historical bookkeeping gaps, staff proposed a one-time allocation of the beginning balance using a roughly 60/40 split between public works (green-coded in the spreadsheet) and police (blue-coded). Going forward, officials said, each department's purchases and interest earnings will be tracked in the replacement fund so revenue and expenditures are tied to the asset owner.

The committee asked for clearer line-item spreadsheets showing the "before and after" fleet counts and how a traffic vehicle moving into patrol would affect counts; the Police Chief said he would provide that. Committee members also flagged several practical items to resolve before purchases: exact vehicle specifications, outfitting costs, and whether to buy or lease. The Police Chief said a meeting is scheduled with the public-works director, the finance director and the city administrator to discuss leasing options with Enterprise and to compare lease-versus-buy tradeoffs.

On propulsion, the Police Chief described a three-stage approach: short-term purchases of conventionally powered vehicles to stabilize the fleet, medium-term buying of hybrid patrol vehicles as they become police-rated and cost-competitive, and long-term transition to fully electric vehicles once charging infrastructure and dependable vehicle configurations are available. "Long term is to transition to fully electric vehicles and invest in the EV charging infrastructure," he said, while adding that charging infrastructure can be expensive and that grants and CIP planning will be needed.

Committee members asked whether charging infrastructure could be treated as part of the replacement program; staff said they expect charger design and installation would be handled as a capital improvement project (CIP) and could be eligible for grants. The committee discussed shared charging at a central city facility so police and public-works vehicles could use the same infrastructure.

Other operational details raised: the city's K-9 transport will be replaced with a vehicle funded by the Lake Forest Park Police Foundation; the current K-9 rig dates to 2013 and will be held until the new unit is outfitted. Fuel procurement was discussed: the Police Chief said the department sources gasoline primarily from a local supplier (NUD) and uses Chevron/Arco as a backup, and that the department's short patrol routes reduce city mileage compared with county or state patrols.

No formal committee vote to purchase vehicles occurred at the meeting. Committee members asked staff to return to the full City Council with a consolidated package (police and public-works vehicle purchases, surpluses and funding allocations) for council consideration; staff indicated a target of the council meeting on April 24 to present the package. The committee adopted the meeting agenda at the start of the session; no other formal actions or binding approvals were recorded in the transcript.

The administration and committee agreed on next steps: staff will prepare a clearer, itemized "before-and-after" spreadsheet showing counts, fund sources (general fund, fund 501, and fund 002 where applicable), and estimated acquisition and outfitting costs; staff will also return with a consolidated package for council consideration and will pursue a lease-versus-buy analysis with Enterprise and follow up on potential grant opportunities for EV infrastructure. The Police Chief and public-works director will continue to refine specifications for patrol, traffic and public-works vehicles and to coordinate timing so surplused vehicles can be rotated rather than retained indefinitely.

Committee members expressed general support for the plan and emphasized the need to avoid ad-hoc, last-minute purchases that drive up maintenance costs and reduce fleet reliability. Staff emphasized that many cost figures in the presentation were estimates and that final costs will be presented to council with supporting spreadsheets and procurement details.