City council delays vote on police cruisers
by Derek McKinley

The Old Town city council convened on Monday night with an agenda full of items to discuss and vote on. Most votes passed unanimously without debate. The longest discussion of the night came during the finance committee meeting, which began the night. There were two items on the agenda that were presented by Old Town police chief Donald O' Halloran.

Two police cruisers are scheduled for replacement in the upcoming year, and the department took bids from local auto dealers to replace them. Quirk Ford and Darling's Ford in Bangor both made offers, with Quirk offering $46, 518, which was $106 less than Darling's offer. While the committee recommended the approval of the allocation, councillor Jamie Dufour voiced his disapproval of the move based on the fact that the council had not had time to adequately prepare the budget for the 2010 fiscal year.



An ambulance is also scheduled to be removed from active duty, and a bid from Sugarloaf Rescue was put in to replace it in the amount of $148, 280. The council also supported that bid, but held it off until they had time to review the city's budget. The debate lasted for about 45 minutes before the council decided to delay their decision.

O'Halloran insisted on a Ford model, calling it, "a tried and true method," while other companies like Dodge are "still trying to work out some wrinkles." Ford plans to discontinue the Crown Victoria model by 2011. Currently the model is used primarily for police cars and taxi cabs, according to O'Halloran. The vehicles are heavy duty, and if they were a regular passenger vehicle they, "wouldn't last six months," Halloran said.



The life expectancy of a police cruiser is five or six years, including two years in full active duty.

The council will meet again on October 15th to decide on a new slate of issues facing the community.