ENGLEWOOD — At its Feb. 27 meeting Englewood City Council authorized City Manager Eric Smith to execute a contract with Coate Construction for the West National Road ADA sidewalk improvement project.
Last fall the city secured a Community Development Block Grant of $50,000 for the replacement of the brick paver sidewalks with stamped concrete, on the north side of W. National Road, between N. Walnut Street and Beckenham Road.
“This project will improve accessibility for persons with disabilities and reduce the maintenance costs for the city,” said William Singer, development director.
The city received two bids for the project, the lowest from Coate Construction at $149,630.
“In addition to replacing the brick sidewalks with concrete, additional work may be required once construction starts to replace the concrete borders around the street trees. Due to the unknown costs associated with that work, I am requesting total funding in the amount of $175,000 for the project,” Singer added.
Construction should begin within 90 days and should take approximately 30 days to complete, according to Singer.
In other business, council approved the purchase of three 2025 Ford Police Interceptor utility vehicles from Montrose Auto Group in Akron at cost of $45,673 each. Delivery of the vehicles is expected in the last quarter of 2024 and will require installation of police equipment by a third party vendor that should take three to four months to complete.
Englewood has a fleet of nine marked Ford Explorer patrol vehicles, each of which is typically driven for 16 hours every day. The police department has established a program to replace its oldest two or three patrol vehicles annually.
“Recovery from the pandemic and manufacturing / supply-chain issues has been slower than anticipated and these challenges persist when attempting to purchase public safety vehicles,” said Corey Follick, chief of police.
Due to manufacturing restraints, no 2024 model year Ford Explorer patrol vehicles were available for purchase.
Follick said the department has one remaining 2020 model year and two 2021 model year patrol vehicles slated for replacement with 2025 models. Follick said he anticipates each vehicle having more than 100,000 miles at the time they are replaced.
Other complications involve the state yet to award a state bid for police departments to obtain new vehicles.
“There is an opportunity to order 2025 model year Ford Explorer police patrol vehicles through the Ford Motor Co. order bank, via a local dealership; however, the ability to do so is limited in time,” Follick noted. “It is uncertain if the State of Ohio will be awarding a state bid this year, and if and when they do, it may be well after the order bank has already closed.
“We must take advantage of this opportunity to acquire three police patrol vehicles to continue providing police services with dependable vehicles and equipment,” Follick added.
All of the city’s older patrol vehicles and any surplus equipment will be sold on GovDeals.com as authorized by the city manager.
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
