2024-03-24 ReadAhead TruckRequest_Weed_Charles_Edmonson
Date: 3/22/2024
To: Lewis County Board of County Commissioners
From: Charles Edmonson, Program Coordinator
Re: 2024 Budget Amendment for Purchase of Truck
The Lewis County Noxious Weed Control Board (LCNWCB) would like to request official
approval for the purchase of a new fieldwork truck under the 2024 budget. As previously
discussed, vehicle number 14-205, a 2005 Green Ford F-150 with 180,842.00 miles on it, is one of
the two trucks currently in use by agency staff and the only one with the four-wheel drive
capabilities appropriate to access many of the more remote areas often required by our projects.
This truck is proving unreliable as it ages and has required increasingly frequent repairs over the
last two years. On at least one occasion it has unexpectedly died while on an unpaved backroad
with a steep slope in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (without any cellphone service), though
staff were able to restart it safely and make it to the work site. I believe that the truck is now a risk
to safety as well as a liability, and that it should be replaced.
In consultation with Tim Mixer of Motor Pool, a replacement is estimated to cost between
$45 – $50,000 for a brand new 4x4 extended or quad-cab pickup, with a canopy. The current
amount in our ER&R fund is around $9,000, so I feel that the funding for this vehicle would best
come from our agency’s fund balance. The increased cost for our ER&R rates is estimated to be
approximately $4,200, starting in 2025.
Mr. Mixer also stated that as expensive as a new vehicle would be, the ‘used’ market isn’t
much better at this time. In addition, I believe that 14-205 was purchased by LCNWCB in 2019 by
my predecessor as an already aged vehicle, and I would prefer to avoid having our investment
needing to be replaced in a short number of years again because of an attempt to save money up
front by purchasing an already older vehicle and then risking safety issues as it ages.