New Port Orchard police car won't be hybrid after all

The city of Port Orchard has pledged to follow a series of environmentally conscious steps, which include acquiring hybrid automobiles when a new vehicle purchase occurs.

But economic realities have made fulfilling that promise problematic.

The Port Orchard City Council approved the purchase of a standard Ford Escape police vehicle this week from Bay Ford after the local dealership submitted the only bid.

“Buying a hybrid wasn’t possible in this case,” said Police Chief Al Townsend. “It would have cost us an additional $9,000, and would only have saved us about $4,000 in fuel based on a projected 100,000-mile life of the vehicle.”

Townsend said he based these projections on a $4-per-gallon gas price, which is higher than today’s level — so the actual savings could be less.

Several members of the council were disappointed the new car was not a hybrid. Councilman Fred Olin suggested waiting to make the purchase and finding money from some other source.

“This is an opportunity to do the right thing,” Olin said.

Mayor Lary Coppola said he “would like to see us get a hybrid because it makes a statement about where we are going as a city.”

And Councilman John Clauson said “a hybrid is perfect for the kind of stop-and-go driving that the police does around here.”

Townsend agreed with these statements, but responded that in order to buy a hybrid in this instance the bid would need to be rewritten and resubmitted.

And if there were no acceptable bids the city could lose its grant funding.

The council approved the purchase of the $22,153 vehicle unanimously.

It is scheduled for delivery in eight to 12 weeks.

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