Jefferson City staff are engaged in a virtual chess game of pulling aging equipment off the streets while trying to fund replacements for the deteriorating machinery.
City staff pulled a 2003 snow plow off the streets within the last month due to problems with its rear axle, Jefferson City Operations Division Director Britt Smith told the Public Works and Planning Committee on Thursday.
"We're unable to put this truck on the road," Smith said. "We don't think it's safe."
To do all of the repairs necessary on the truck, Smith said, the expense would exceed 50 percent of the cost for a new vehicle.
Committee members suggested the city should buy a replacement snow plow - an estimated $80,000 expense, Smith said. The committee sent the request to the Jefferson City Finance Committee for review.
If the Finance Committee and Jefferson City Council decide to fund a replacement snow plow, it would not be available this winter, though.
This is the same snow plow the Jefferson City Budget Committee unfunded in the 2019 fiscal year budget, which began Nov. 1. In August, the committee unfunded it and a $25,000 replacement inspection vehicle to offset the cost of three replacement police vehicles.
The council funded nine police vehicles in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 - a $276,300 total. The Jefferson City Police Department requested 14 replacement police vehicles for FY2019 during the Budget Committee meetings last summer.
"Of course, our role of protecting the community depends on our ability to get to the scene and calls for service in a timely and safe manner. That's what patrol cars do - patrol cars that are reliable and safe," Police Chief Roger Schroeder said in September. "As they age and the miles accumulate - and many of our cars are way over 100,000 miles - the safety level diminishes. So, it's important to continue to upgrade the fleet because they continue to age."
Earlier this year, city staff also pulled two dump trucks off the streets due to deterioration. The City Council later funded replacement vehicles - an approximately $310,000 expense.
In 2005, the City Council purchased several new vehicles and tools for the Public Works Department, Public Works Director Matt Morasch said. While that meant new equipment at the time, it now means that same equipment is aging at about the same rate.
The Jefferson City Street Division has 75 pieces of equipment on its equipment plan, where the Public Works Department tracks equipment lifespan, Smith said. Of the 75 pieces, 32 are at or beyond the expected lifespan. Nine pieces of equipment also have 20 percent or less life expectancy remaining, Smith said.
In the Jefferson City Engineering Division, there are nine vehicles on the equipment plan, with six at or past their expected life, Smith said.
Twelve of the 13 Jefferson City Planning and Protective Services vehicles on the list are also at or past their expected lifespans, Smith noted.
While the Jefferson City Planning and Protective Services Department has older vehicles, director Sonny Sanders said, it regularly receives hand-me-downs. This strategy gives the department more flexibility.
"Most of our vehicles are passenger vehicles, and we're fortunate where we can get pass-down vehicles, which is what's been happening with like police cruisers and what not," Sanders said. "We don't have the heavy equipment like Public Works does, so we're a little bit more flexible. We can take hand-me-downs a little better than they can because they need the larger, heavier equipment."
In 2017, the Jefferson City Council made "a significant investment" in replacing the Jefferson City Fire Department's frontline fleet, which includes fire apparatuses and specialty command vehicles, trailers and utility vehicles, Fire Chief Matt Schofield said. The fire department recently ordered seven new fire trucks, displaying one of those trucks at a Jefferson City Public Safety Committee meeting last month.
This equipment is "our most important service delivery platform," Schofield added.
However, its smaller fleet of emergency vehicles, utility and command vehicles continues to age "despite intensive maintenance efforts," Schofield said. The fire department requests a small-response vehicle per year to help combat the decline of its smaller fleet, he added, but City Council has not funded its requests the last two years.
During next year's budget season, Schofield noted, the department plans to ask for three small-response vehicles.
Not only do aging vehicles and equipment create safety concerns and higher maintenance costs, it could mean lower efficiency.
With the snow plow out of operation, Smith said, the Public Works department is shifting vehicles around to address winter weather. However, the trucks they plan to use are not as efficient as the snow plow, Smith said, which means "our level of service may be detracted in some ways."
It also takes away resources from other areas of Public Works since vehicles have to be repurposed.
"It's almost like a chess game - you start moving pieces around on the puzzle," Smith said. "We've got to readjust because we've got a truck that's come out of the fleet, so a truck has to come back in and fill in that fleet. So, (a vehicle is) repurposed from another task and now it's a snow plow. But that means it could affect construction work or there's less vehicles available for construction while that one is set up to be a snow plow."
The council could continue addressing aging fleet and equipment problems as they pop up, City Administrator Steve Crowell said, or have a larger discussion regarding the issues and develop a long-range solution.
"There is a looming problem with vehicles and buildings," Crowell told the Public Works and Planning Committee, adding these concerns have been voiced for years. "I'm sorry to be that blunt, but I think it's time that we address those issues."
Committee members agreed, with Ward 2 Councilwoman Laura Ward adding the city "can't just keep putting it off."
However, it's a delicate balancing act, funding replacement vehicles and equipment while also paying for infrastructure projects, personnel and technology, among other city items.
"There's a lot of priorities and issues that need prioritized," Morasch said. "There's got to be a balance with everything. It can't all go into fleet - it has to go into projects and personnel and fleet. Then there's multiple departments - fire, police, public works, planning (and protective services). There's only a finite pool of money so how to distribute that is really the council's job."