Directors to review police purchases
■ The board’s agenda Tuesday also includes a discussion regarding its vacancy.
Tuesday, the Siloam Springs Board of Directors will open an agenda with a pair of approvals for the Siloam Springs Police Department, a grant agreement authorization and a discussion of the options to fill Lucas Roebuck’s unexpired term on the governing board.
First on the agenda is a purchase approval for the police department for just under $80,000 to Superior Automotive Group for a police car.
Purchases made by the department in the first quarter of the year have left $82,425 in the budget for police vehicles, according to a staff report published by the city. With most of that remaining money, the department plans to purchase a pair of Chevrolet Equinox SUVs, which will be used by the Criminal Investigation Detachment, and will replace a pair of vehicles that are each more than 10 years old. The purchase also includes an all-wheel-drive Dodge Charger, the department’s preferred new patrol car.
The purchases, if approved, will leave $2,685 remaining in the budget for the line item.
The budget amendment proposed for the police department is also related to the department’s fleet of vehicles. Six police vehicles are requested for repainting and outfitting. The first is a vehicle that will be
painted to be used as an administrative vehicle instead of a police vehicle, the second two are a pair of Chevy Tahoes that need a fresh coat of paint according to the release because their current coat has aged to the point that a new coat is warranted.
Police have also requested a new coat of paint for three high-mobility, multipurpose-wheeled vehicles, known commonly as Humvees. The vehicles were obtained through the Law Enforcement Support Office, which passes military surplus items to local police departments for a percentage of the market value.
During a presentation to the board on July 18, Police Chief Jim Wilmeth said the vehicles would be painted to make it clear they were police vehicles and not military vehicles. The Humvees would be used primarily in bad weather conditions and in situations in which an officer needed to be rescued, Wilmeth said.
Two of the Humvees would also require air conditioning, and police are proposing to outfit all three vehicles with winches for emergency operations.
The entire budget amendment proposal is for an estimated $36,068.67, $30,856.77 of which would be devoted to the Humvees. City staff recommends that the money be transferred from the restricted law enforcement sales tax funded revenue, which currently has over $250,000 in reserve.
Next on the agenda is a grant authorization agreement for a FAA grant to purchase and install Runway End Identification Lights for Cecil Smith Field. The grant would cover 90 percent of the project costs, or $241,882. The remaining cost would likely be covered by a separate grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics, according to the report.
Finally, the agenda includes a discussion of the board’s options to fill former director Lucas Roebuck’s unexpired term. Roebuck was elected to the board for a term starting at the beginning of 2017. Roebuck’s at-large board position would be filled by either the winner of a special election, or an appointment. If the city chooses to go the route of appointment, any selected replacement would have to be approved by a vote from the board.