Norton council approves entering agreement with Enterprise Fleet; lease plan introduced for first reading

Councilors voted to enter into an agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management after a presentation by Enterprise representatives and Norton Police Chief McShane on a proposed fleet replacement and disposal program. Carl, an Enterprise representative, and Chief McShane presented a multi-year plan that recommended an optimized replacement cycle, data tracking, resale management and a potential near-term addition of marked patrol vehicles. The council followed the presentation by taking a voice/roll-call vote to enter into an agreement to pursue the program.

The roll call on the motion to enter the agreement recorded the following votes: Mr. Lukens — yes; Mr. Towsley — no (stated objection if the agreement is a lease); Mr. Adler — yes; Ms. Lee — yes; Mr. Mowery — yes; Mr. Harbert — yes; Mr. DeHart — yes. The measure passed 6–1.

What was proposed: Enterprise described a program that combines vehicle acquisition, analytics to identify optimal replacement timing, and resale services that Enterprise said outperform government auction channels. Carl said Enterprise typically achieves about $2,100 more per vehicle in resale and can sell most vehicles in fewer than 17 days. The company proposed a first-year acquisition of multiple marked units (Enterprise and police staff discussed six units as a possible first-year addition), a client portal for fleet data, and annual reviews to adjust replacement recommendations.

Council concerns and budget math: Councilmember Towsley pressed for hard numbers. He cited per-vehicle comparisons he said were in the record: "purchasing a vehicle through a lease is $84,720; buying it outright is $71,823," and said adding six cruisers at the lease price would raise costs by more than buying them outright. Chief McShane and Enterprise representatives said the presented 10-year plan is a forward-looking projection and not a binding commitment; staff emphasized that annual approvals would still be required and the city could purchase vehicles outright in years when cash was available.

Next steps: Council later moved to add Ordinance 50-03-2025 (authorizing the lease of vehicles from Enterprise Fleet in an annual amount not to exceed $94,750) to the agenda for first reading and the clerk read the ordinance. That is a first-reading action; any final lease authorization would require subsequent ordinance action and any contract execution must follow later council approvals.

Votes at a glance: Motion to enter agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management — passed, roll-call 6 yes, 1 no (Mr. Towsley). Motion to add Ordinance 50-03-2025 (vehicle lease authorization) to tonight's agenda for first reading — passed by roll call; ordinance read for first reading.