NORWALK — With the police department’s new emergency communications system coming in millions under its expected budget, the city reallocated $200,000 for three new police vehicles.
The police department made the rounds of several city committees and commissions, getting permission to move $200,000 from the communications console account to the police car and van replacement account, according to city documents.
The communications console project has been in the works for several years and had an initial estimated cost of about $15 million, Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik said at last week’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
“About five years ago, we budgeted to replace our entire radio system. We started to hit that process at the end of completion and it’s going to hit the road under budget,” Kulhawik said. “Because, going with the backbone of the state, we don’t need as much infrastructure as we thought. We will be millions of dollars under what we budgeted for this project. We went to the city and asked that $200,000 of the remaining money be reallocated to fund the three vehicles that have been cut for two years.”
The department tried twice in recent years to get funding approved to buy three administrative vehicles, but the funding eventually shifted to more pressing department issues, Kulhawik said.
“We have developed a replacement plan for our vehicles at the request of the finance department. It was working well, but two years ago the three administrative vehicles were cut from the capital budget due to other pressing needs and we didn’t want to cut the patrol fleet, so we cut the admin vehicles,” Kulhawik said.
During the most recent budget season, vehicles were again cut from the budget. Most of the remaining millions from the communications systems project will go back to the city instead of being reallocated, Kulhawik said.
All three vehicles will be Ford Explorers, but the department recently met with Live Green Connecticut, a Norwalk-based environmental nonprofit, to discuss electric vehicle options, Kulhawik said. An electric model of the Ford Explorer has not been made.
The current administrative vehicles in use will be turned over to another section of the department once the new cars arrive, Kulhawik said.
“Those vehicles now have about 80,000 miles on them and if we don’t get them this year, they’ll have 100,000 and we won’t be able to trade them in,” Kulhawik said. “We usually trade in our administration vehicles as they go because we don’t get a lot of them just because of financial constraints.”
The reallocated $200,000 will cover the cost of purchasing and customizing the vehicles, Norwalk Police Department Administrative Manager Mickey Docimo said during a Board of Assessment and Taxation meeting earlier this month.
“The three vehicles being examined are for the chief and two deputy chiefs,” Docimo said. “Two years ago, cars and vehicles went from operating to capital (budget) and that’s why we’re here. There are three vehicles, which will cover more. This also includes clothing and anything special that needs to be done to the vehicles.”
The department should deliver the new cars within the next three to six months, Docimo said.
“We should be able to get these cars at least this calendar year,” Docimo said. “They are given the line to the point where they are completely unusable and then they are auctioned off. Cars that are in use until they become unusable will go down to other divisions where they are short now or where those cars are breaking down.”