Board reviews fleet assessment; staff recommends leasing several supervisor vehicles

Town staff presented a municipal fleet assessment and urged the board to consider replacing aging vehicles identified in the report.

The assessment covered roughly 30 town vehicles and recommended about 18 be replaced in 2025 because of age, mileage and maintenance needs. Staff said several units at the public works yard require major repairs and should be declared surplus rather than retain costly maintenance liability.

As one option, staff described a state-contract leasing program that would reduce upfront costs. "If you had to buy it, it would be $45,000. But because they're getting vehicles on state contract, this vehicle is $36,000," a staff member said, summarizing the contractor's example. The staff member provided an illustrative principal payment of about $616 per month and estimated additional monthly maintenance of $100 to $150.

Staff recommended consideration of five replacement pickups to meet supervisor and departmental needs (one in the general fund, three in water and sewer, one in electric). They noted police vehicles are a separate, already-budgeted discussion because of required upfitting and different rotation schedules.

Commissioners asked about mileage limits, maintenance arrangements and whether leased vehicles could be treated like town-owned units; staff said the state-contract program would allow town-specific outfitting and options at lease end. No formal motion or action was recorded on the record to commit to leases; staff said they would gather specific pricing and terms for future consideration.

Next steps: staff will return with detailed lease cost comparisons, residual-value estimates and recommendations for which units to surplus.