An outside study of the vehicles used by Public Works that concluded late last year is recommending the replacement of vehicles that are beyond their usable life, with an approximate $1.9 million capital investment recommended to cover those costs over the next few years.

Commissioned by First Selectman Peggy Lyons in August 2020, the study found that a hodge-podge of short-term repairs and the lack of a comprehensive replacement plan or policy left some vehicles in such bad condition that “sturdiness and road worthiness may be in question.”

“It was quite astounding to see kind of the conditions of a number of our vehicles. I think this report just really supports the fact that we really need to be investing more in our heavy equipment,” Lyons said. “These are emergency response vehicles, ultimately.”

The report additionally recommends adding four or five new vehicles, and for the town to build a policy that looks for opportunities for trade-ins and purchases vehicles from the same manufacturer when possible. Lyons added that the Police Department already uses this policy, which creates more “predictability” in the budget.

The Capital Improvement Planning (CIP) Committee voted to recommend adding $300,000 annual funding for the vehicle replacements over the next six years, focusing on more urgent needs first. That still must be approved by the Board of Finance (BOF) and the Board of Selectmen (BOS).

Town Engineer John Ianacco ranked all vehicles by how urgent the replacement need is, and recommended some of the more expensive vehicles—specifically half a dozen six-wheel dump trucks that are between 12 and 18 years old—be replaced sooner rather than later.

Each of those is estimated to cost about $200,000 to replace.

BOF Chair Jean Fitzgerald said the town should discuss using Undesignated Fund Balance money to possibly fast-track some of these more urgent needs, though specifics would need to be worked out by the BOF and BOS.

The town does not follow a consistent policy for vehicle replacement, according to the study. A strategy of lease-to-own that would put the town on a schedule for regular replacement has been moving slowly since at least 2016, and an assessment by the town back then found that more than 40 percent of town vehicles were in either “poor” or “fair” condition.

In 2018, Finance Director Stacy Nobitz told the CIP Committee that the leasing program was slowing down in anticipation of a more complete study.

Some grant money that was discussed in year’s past to replace the dump trucks specifically is likely no longer available, Nobitz told The Source via email.

One of the practical benchmarks for public works operations is snow clearing, according to Bob Myers, the consultant who ran the study. Aiming to have all snow routes completed in 2 ½ hours is a “gold standard,” Myers said, though not always achievable, but an addition of vehicles can potentially bring the time down and shorten routes.

Myers said the recommendation for adding a few more vehicles is based on comparisons to other towns, specifically East Lyme, Waterford, and Clinton. Madison fields fewer vehicles in its Public Works department than any of those other towns, with more road miles to cover than all but Waterford.

Selectman Bruce Wilson questioned whether these types of comparisons were enough to justify such a large investment, with Myers readily admitting that data was not meant to be definitive or utilized in a vacuum.

Ianacco estimated that the town had replaced 16 vehicles in the last four years, which was more than in comparable time periods and not ideal practicality or for budgeting purposes.

“I think this report shows we still have more work to do,” he said.