By Kristin Rover
Sun staff

Union Township officials are finding better ways to purchase equipment for departments in the township.

Administrator Ken Geis said the changes that they are making will save the township hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Geis said they are finding used equipment that is in good condition and also looking at better ways to buy new equipment.

“We totally changed our methodology,” Geis said. “More than 90 percent of the industry specs it out individually. We decided to take a look at this.”

Fire Chief Stan Deimling has been looking into purchasing used vehicles rather than buying new, Geis said.

“We are looking to replace some of our equipment and just because of our activity and geography we put a lot of miles in a lot of hours,” Geis said. “Some places don’t get a lot of hours and miles, but they replace vehicles based upon age.”

Deimling found a used pumper that trustees will have the opportunity to buy for $80,000, a fraction of what a new pumper would cost, Geis said.

“We found a pumper that is like 10 years old, with about 1,000 hours and less than 10,000 miles,” Geis said. “That we’re going to be able to buy for one-fifth of the cost of a new vehicle.”

Buying vehicles used has benefits including saving money and time, Deimling said.

“A lot of times departments will write very detailed specifications for new equipment,” Deimling said. “In the specifications they’ll indicated every thing involved…the more you custom design and personalize specifications, the higher the expense is going to be.”

It also takes longer to get the truck, Deimling said.

In September, Deimling said the department did purchase a new fire truck, but instead of buying a truck with a custom frame and wheels they purchased a truck with a commercial chassis, which saved money.

The only downfall Geis said there is purchasing used, or standard vehicles, is that all of the department vehicles are not the same.

Because of this, Geis said employees train to the equipment rather than training to the standard.

The service department is also saving money on a new salt truck this year, Geis said.

“We are buying a smaller salt truck,” Geis said. “Because we use the brine system we aren’t required to carry as much salt.”

The smaller truck will also be able to navigate small neighborhood streets and cul-de-sacs better and the cost of a smaller truck is about half of a full size dump truck, normally around $160,000, Geis said.