PERRYSBURG — Police vehicles were reordered by city council at the Tuesday meeting, for an additional $52,500, after cancellation by Ford on the previously ordered 2022 models.
The order for six replacement police vehicles and one fire vehicle, from earlier this year, was canceled by Ford. Perrysburg’s order with the Montrose Ford dealership, as part of the state contract, was among the 400 vehicles Ford canceled.
“Ford ended up canceling all the orders on us, with really no reason given, other than supply chain issues and not being able to keep up with demand on those. And it wasn’t just us. The Wood County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn also had eight canceled on him,” Perrysburg Police Chief Patrick Jones said.
He’s been told that some municipalities are considering legal action against the Ford Motor Company for the approximate 17% increase. He thinks they should stick to the original price.
“Talking with other municipalities, they have had their vehicle orders canceled. So it’s across the country that it’s been happening,” Jones said. “Montrose Ford of Akron, had the state contract. If that’s the average per state, then we’re talking quite a few thousand vehicles that were canceled by Ford. There’s been talk amongst the municipalities about the repercussions.
“We reordered them as 2023 vehicles, but at an average cost of $7,500 per vehicle extra.”
The price increases vary depending on the required use and resulting upgrades or options.
Two of the police interceptor utility hybrid vehicles were first approved for purchase by council on Feb. 1, at a cost of $37,959 each. They would have replaced a 2009 Ford Crown Victoria and a 2014 Ford Fusion. The 2023 models increased that cost by $14,625. The other four vehicles, approved at the same meeting, were to become unmarked police vehicles, at a similar price.
A maintenance vehicle purchase resolution, requested by the service committee, was tabled by Councilwoman Jan Materni, who is chair of the committee. She said that the administration asked for the action and it will be discussed at the December service committee meeting.
Also approved was a resolution authorizing the purchase of eight portable radios from Motorola Solutions for the police division at a cost of $37,332.
The police division switched to the Lucas County 800 MHz radio system in 2019 and the radios need to be updated or replaced. Jones plans to keep the ones that are still functional and add them to their bank of spare radios that are kept for large scale events. However, the older radios would otherwise be taken out of the field.
