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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JULY 28, 2025 16 Councilmember Monson agrees. She asked if Staff can come back with an alternative to the Ford Escape. She said 69,000 is low mileage and maintenance and repairs is not excessive. She thinks we should either push it out or ask for an alternative that makes better financial sense. Councilmember Weber said we are using a new scoring system, that seems to make more sense. Maybe 15 years ago it made sense to have a replacement schedule based on how old it is. Vehicles don't rust out as bad as they once did. We can extend the life a little more. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the thought process of the 10-12 year cycle is the trade in value. The older it is, the less resale value there is. Trading it in is more valuable than turning it in for scrap and buying something brand new. Mayor Grant said the depreciation on a new vehicle would dwarf the loss of value. Councilmember Weber asked if it would be traded in toward a new vehicle or would it go to auction. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he reviews the avenues and we take the path that will get us the most back. Public Works Superintendent Frid said we buy at State contract pricing, not retail. Councilmember Weber asked if the proposed $41,000 is the State pricing. Public Works Superintendent Frid confirmed. His Fleet Lead ran these budget numbers. If there is a different number, we can find a vehicle that fits the parameters. Councilmember Monson said she would like to argue for a hybrid. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen repeated if there was a target number, it would help them adjust the list. They have a list of equipment that are being recommended for replacement to ensure reliable operations. If we had a target number, it would help us adjust year to year. Right now, these things are starting to stack up. The next two years, we have a bunch of equipment that we consistently push back. We take care of the little pieces of equipment but delay the big ones because it's easier to push them back. If we had a number, maybe we could get one of the bigger pieces and shift some of the smaller pieces of equipment back. That would allow more flexibility for Staff to make those decisions. Mayor Grant said years ago, when going over the CIP, Public Works would bring the equipment up here for Council to see it. It's not a bad idea. Councilmember Monson likes the idea of alternating years. One year is one big piece of equipment and then next year we replace a handful of smaller pieces of equipment. That may help balance things. If we stay around $500,000 every year and add inflation, as needed. We will always pick the cheaper replacements in an attempt to reduce the levy. Finance Director Yang said if we took the loader off the list, the levy can stay at $100,000 and we will be fine through 2029.