Wausau Finance Committee Takes No Action on a Proposal to Purchase a New Vehicle for the Fire Department

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 -- 8:11 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The Wausau Finance Committee took no action on a proposal to purchase a new vehicle for the Fire department’s management team after an alternative emerged from City Fleet manager Solomon King, according to Mike Leischner with WSAU.

“We have a vehicle shared among multiple departments at City Hall,” said King. “The Mayor asked me a few weeks ago what the future of that vehicle looks like, [saying] he doesn’t have too much of a use for it.”

King said they ran the numbers and found that the vehicle’s usage had declined, so he suggested moving it from City Hall to the Fire Department. Fire Chief Jeremy Kopp noted that the GMC Terrain would satisfy the department’s needs and could be available for other city departments if they need to borrow it for a day. He said its primary use would be transporting equipment and people between training sites.

“Whenever [a city employee] needs a vehicle I’d be more than happy to lend a hand. Missing a vehicle for a short time isn’t a challenge we can’t overcome. It’s the everyday in and out that has been putting us behind,” said Kopp.

Groat said the vehicle was mostly used by staff at City Hall to attend conferences, but since many events are now held over remote applications it’s gotten less use. “We’re seeing a decline in [people] actually going to conferences. That’s reduced the usage.”

She says others prefer using their vehicle instead of the “pool” vehicle. The Committee took no action on the item. Chair Michael Martens instructed King and Kopp to take the necessary steps to transfer the vehicle to the Fire Department, and they can revisit the idea in the future if they find the plan didn’t work as designed.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.