By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
In January, the Great Bend City Council approved the purchase of a new vehicle for the Great Bend Police Department’s school resource officer (SRO) and D.A.R.E. officer. The low bid came from Marmie Chevrolet for $55,000, and upfitting the vehicle was going to be handled by Superior Emergency Response Vehicles (SERV) out of Andover.
Following the approval, Great Bend Police Chief Steve Haulmark found out from Marmie Chevrolet that the ordering window was closed and they were unable to purchase the vehicle.
"SERV routinely orders additional vehicles because they know from the time of ordering to the time they receive them, situations change, people wreck cars, things happen," said Haulmark. "They did in fact order two additional vehicles and said they would sell us one for the original quoted price."
SERV provided the other original bid, which cost $1,750 more than the Marmie bid. The City Council approved the bid from SERV for $56,750 with an additional amount not to exceed $12,000 for upfitting the vehicle.
Not only used by the SRO, the vehicle is utilized for community outreach and events as well as educational opportunities.