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Weekly News Journal Thursday, March 7, 2013 3City agrees to lease new police vehiclesBy Lisa DayleyWeekly News JournalRUPERT - Thanks to thecity council, the Rupert PoliceDepartment patrol officers willhave three new patrol cars todrive.The council agreed to leasethree 2014 Ford Interceptors carsfor a total of $35,000 per vehiclefor three years from HinckleyLeasing. The council made thedecision during its recent citycouncil meeting where it metwith Police Chief James Wardle.“The one thing about Hinckleyis that he goes through our Idahodealers. He’s the only one whoturned in the quote on the tradein on our two Dodge Chargers, aGMC pickup, a Durango and theIntrepid,” Wardle said.According to Wardle, Hinckleyoffered $27,000 for thefive cars. That’s a much higheramount than expected for thevehicles, City AdministratorKelly Anthon said.“This particular dealer isoffering us a large amount ofmoney like we discussed. Whatwe’ve found is that nobody hascome anywhere near close to thatprice. The money can go backinto the general fund, and thenthe council could, at its discretion,purchase another vehicle orsomething else,” he said.Lease agreements also callfor trade-ins on police vehiclesup to a certain amount of milesincurred on vehicles during thelease agreement.“If you say 25,000 miles for athree-year lease and traded it in,and they only have 20,000 mileson them, they would adjust thatCourtesy PhotoThe Rupert City Council agreed to the lease of three 2014 Ford Interceptors cars valued at$35,000 each. The city will lease them for three years at a cost of $8,275 per car per year. Thecouncil made the decision during its recent city council meeting where it met with Police ChiefJames Wardle.Industrial sewer plantchange orders approvedBy Jay LenkersdorferWeekly News JournalBURLEY – Representativesfrom Contractors Northwest,Inc. met with the city councilthis week to ask for modificationsto their original industrialsewer renovation contract.After hearing more detail aboutthe changes, the council unanimouslyapproved them.A change order on a constructionproject is a contractor’s wayto get paid for changes or modificationsto the original agreement.With 19 items being requestedby Contractors Northwest, theouncil was pleased to hear theprice on the project actuallyent down. Originally awardedt $2,919,600, the cost after thehanges was $2,780,457, a savngsof $139,530.The biggest change in theproject, and the key reasonhe cost went down, was thathe City of Burley Electricalepartment will be handling aubstantial portion of the elecricalwork at the newly remodledwastewater treatment plant.lectrical work that had beenbid at $200,000 can be doneby the city’s own crews for just57,000.Other items included on thechange order include:*Metering manhole - $7,604*Re-routing of an airline -$5,189*Painting the solids building- $19,217*Piping modifications -$4,214*Bathroom fan - $1,350Had the city not agreed to dothe electrical work, the changeorders would have cost taxpayersan additional $29,229.The industrial wastewatersewer plant serves just four customersat this time. They areGossners, High Desert Milk,Pacific Ethanol and Gem StateProcessing. According to MarkMitton, Burley City Administrator,those four customers willsee increases in their rates equalto the cost of the project. Mittonhas said none of the industrialsewer plant expenses will bepaid for by residents, especiallysince they are already contributingsubstantially to the repaymentof bonds for the residentialsewer facility.The city received approval tobond for the industrial projectby seeking a judicial confirmation.In this process, the judgereviews the project, deemingPhoto by Jay Lenkersdorfer - News JournalHigh Desert Milk is one of four customers that send their wasteto Burley’s industrial wastewater treatment plant. The cost ofrenovations will be paid for out of increased fees for those fourusers.it ordinary and necessary, thenallows the city to go out andfind a lender. Had the judicialconfirmation failed, the citywould have then been requiredto approach the citizens by puttingthe measure on a ballot. Topass the city would be requiredto get a super majority of 66 2/3percent in order to go forward.The industrial wastewatertreatment plant is currentlyundergoing the first of two renovationprojects that will allow itto handle the waste stream moreefficiently. At the present timethe city is violating dischargepermits which lead to seriousfines and could result in theplant being shut down if progressisn’t made.lease and purchase price,” Wardlesaid.The new vehicles come withstandard police equipment suchas sirens, cameras and cages.“All we’ve got to do is putdecals on it and put our radio init. That’s all we’ve got to do,”Wardle said.The police department hasfive other police vehicles usedby Wardle, lieutenants and detectivesthat are not traded in on a“The mileage of those vehiclesis about one-third the number ofmiles compared to patrol cars,”25,000 mile lease per policevehicle would be the best way togo and keep officers safe. Wardleexpected to have the new carsdelivered to the police departmentwithin 60 to 90 days. Theywere needed soon as some of thepolice department’s cars requireon going repairs. One of thepolice department’s older carshas 170,000 miles and is startingto require a lot of maintenance,”The city meets again at 7 p.m.,Tuesday, March 12, at city hall.The meeting is open to the public.For more information callbiannual basis.Wardle said.The council agreed thathe said.436-9600.MINI - CASSIA ANNUALCOMMUNITYCONSIGNMENT AUCTIONSat. April 6th, 2013Cassia County Fairgrounds (Carnival Grounds) Burley, IdahoPlease notify us with a list of your items byMonday, March 18thin order for us to advertise yourconsignments.We will start receiving consignments at the fairgroundsSaturday, March 30th through Thursday, April 4th(Closed Easter Sunday) from 8 am until 6 pm daily.CONTACT:BILL AT 208-654-2546 CELL 208-670-2078Estes Acutions◆Oakley Valley Arts CouncilpresentsArsenic &Old LaceBy Joseph KesselringDirected by Joyce MerrillMarch 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16,18, 21, 22, & 237:30 7:00PMMarch 9, 2012(2:00PM only)677-ARTS/2787Ticket Hours 9:00AM-5:00PM(Monday-Saturday)Tickets $10.00