FCSO shifts 2 cars to county police
♦ The transfer is a stopgap until SPLOST funds for new vehicles become available next year.
Floyd County Commissioners approved on Tuesday the transfer of two vehicles from the sheriff’s office to the police department until new police cars are delivered.
“The police department has had a rash of cars going down in their fleet,” Assistant County Manager Gary Burkhalter said. “This is just a stopgap measure and we appreciate the sheriff’s office working with us on this.”
Police will get a 2005 Chevrolet Impala with 115,000 miles and a 2007 Dodge Charger with 175,000 miles. At least one new car is on order but it was unclear Tuesday when it would be delivered, since police vehicles need to be outfitted with a special equipment package.
The 2017 special purpose, local option sales tax package contain $3.4 million for county vehicles and equipment, but collections won’t start until April.
According to a report to the Citizens SPLOST Committee by Special Projects Manager Bruce Ivey, the average age of the police department’s fleet was 7 years and 63 percent of the vehicles had over 100,000 miles. The average age of vehicles in the sheriff’s office fleet was just under 6 years and just 46 percent had over 100,000 miles on them.
In other actions, the board agreed to a change in a state grant application for the Rome-Floyd County Library. Original plans called for renovating the meeting rooms but Burkhalter said the library board determined the need for a new boiler is greater.
State officials are processing the application and needed the County Commission’s approval to proceed. The grant, which won’t be funded until next September, would provide $33,000 toward the $66,000 project. The county has budgeted $25,000 and the library will pay the rest from its fund balance, Burkhalter said.
Commissioners also awarded a contract to Georgia Safe Sidewalks to continue the sidewalk repair and replacement project in the Riverside community. The $60,000 contract is funded through the 2013 SPLOST.