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Council approves purchase of two Ford police utility SUVs with maintenance package, one alderman votes no and one abstains
Summary
To standardize patrol fleets and facilitate equipment transfers, the council approved two Ford police utility SUVs from Ewald and a maintenance package from Johnson Ford; council debate focused on limited bid specs and resale value trade-offs. Vote recorded one 'No' (Alderman Vries) and one abstention (Alderman Montello).
The New Richmond City Council approved bids to purchase two Ford police utility SUVs to outfit the city’s main duty squads, along with an extended warranty and maintenance package.
Police leadership and staff recommended purchasing the Ford utility vehicles to standardize squad configurations and enable equipment transfer between vehicles, which they said improves officer safety and logistics. The chief and staff explained that having identical vehicles makes transferring partitions, cages and lights easier and can reduce long-term costs associated with re‑equipping differing models.
Several council members questioned why the request for proposals was limited to Fords and expressed concern about a perceived constrained competition. Staff explained the city has pursued standardization in prior years to make equipment transfer feasible and noted supply and production changes previously affected availability of specific models.
Alderman Vries voted against the motion citing concerns about scope of bidding; Alderman Montello abstained. The motion to approve the purchases from Ewald with the maintenance package from Johnson Ford passed on a roll call with the recorded votes: majority yes, one no, one abstention.
What’s next: Staff will proceed with procurement and outfitting of the new vehicles and continue to evaluate future vehicle specifications (including electric options) as the fleet policy evolves.
