Plan to Purchase Five New Police Cars Is Put on Hold

A plan to acquire five new vehicles for the Holmdel Police Department was tabled Thursday, when a Township Committeeman refused to sign on, until, he said, he can better understand the need. 

Committeeman Larry Fink said he would not go along with other members on the governing body to borrow $125,000 from the Monmouth County Improvement Authority to acquire five new cars without a usage analysis of how the 40-member department uses its current 30-vehicle fleet. 

"I've never seen an analysis of the utilization of the vehicles," said Fink. He was dissatisfied with a report he received at the meeting that night, which he described as an "inventory list" of the fleet stating the department has approximately 20 patrol cars, five detective vehicles and five supervisor vehicles. 

Fink wanted to see something that showed, he said: "This car is used this shift, this shift, and then it's given a rest. This one is used all three shifts. This one is used only on special occasions. This one is just a K-9 specialty car. Whatever," he said.

"Before we spend money, we should ask questions," Fink said. 

Bond ordinances require approval from at least four out of five Township Committee members. With Mayor Patrick Impreveduto absent on July 21, the three Republican-party members in favor of the purchase tried to coax a yes vote from Fink, the lone Democrat.  

It would be cheaper to buy new cars at the historic low rate of 5.5%, than to make spend money on labor costs needed to keep old ones on the road, said Committeeman Eric Hinds, who serves with Fink on the Budget and Finance sub-Committee.

Committeeman Rocco Pascucci reminded Fink that the group had met several times since January with Police Department representatives and the township car mechanic to discuss the issue. "We met with Glenn [Henderson]. We tortured him. We went over the cost of transmissions vs. the cost of a new car. This is the number we came up with," said Pascucci.

"All of us thought five was a lot," he continued. "But when we were shown the cost of new transmissions and how the cars were run, this seems like a reasonable figure, and I'm going to support it."

Deputy Mayor Serena DiMaso pointed out that in the most recent report from the Police Chief John Mioduszewski, the year-to-date mileage on the patrol fleet was almost 152,000 miles.

"If you double it, that's 300,000 a year put on the fleet. These cars are run 24 hours a day, seven days a week...I personally don't have a problem going forward with this," DiMaso said.

Fink acknowledged the members' comments but said he still was not comfortable.

"We continue to have a real economic crisis in our town, as far as the budget, and next year is going to be even worse, and you all know that," Fink said.

"So I'm just looking at, if we can get along with four, or three, or zero replacements this year and still maintain an adequate fleet for patrol people to use, we should do it. So I'm just asking for more time to analyze it." 

The bond ordinance was introduced on June 21. (The public notice is attached to this article.) The public hearing and Township Committee vote on whether to go through with the loan will be rescheduled for the August 18 Township Committee meeting at Town Hall, beginning at 7:00 p.m.