Centennial SD committee advances vehicle-purchase plan amid debate over need and costs

On Oct. 17 the Centennial SD transportation committee reviewed a proposal to buy a cargo van for district courier service and buy passenger vans and replacement buses as part of a multiyear fleet-replenishment plan.

Mr. Hartman, the district operations lead who presented the plan, said the recommended purchases would replace older vehicles, reduce outsourced runs and improve reliability. He described buying a Ford Transit cargo van to replace a rotting carpenter/courier truck and two 9-passenger vans with bench seats. Hartman said Sourcewell/CoStar pricing made the vans roughly $61,000 each and that selling older vehicles could recoup about $20,000 toward costs. "We re gonna save a little over $5,000 purchasing two vans," he said, describing Sourcewell as a fixed-price procurement route that allowed the district to take advantage of units already built and…