By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
USD 428 Assistant Superintendent John Popp tripled checked to ensure a first-step agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management comes with no fees. But, he said at Monday's Board of Education meeting, the agreement is the way to move forward in a partnership with Enterprise to examine the Great Bend district's fleet of 38 vehicles.
"In order to get some real actual numbers about vehicles we might potentially move forward with, we need to sign the agreement with them," Popp said. "We can choose to spend zero dollars on zero vehicles, but the agreement allows us to start to work with them to design a plan that will help us to move forward."
The board heard from Enterprise Consultant Ken Olsen during the January meeting. The program would allow the district to update its fleet of vehicles to provide safer, more-reliable options while also reducing maintenance costs. Board Member Chad Burroughs was at first skeptical, but was part of the 7-0 vote to move forward with the agreement.
"I've tried to shoot holes in this," Burroughs said. "When we first got this, I thought there's no way this is real. I've tried very hard to shoot holes in it, and I can't find where to put the hole."
With the agreement, Popp and Director of Grounds and Transportation Cody Schmidt will work with Enterprise to determine a possible action plan for the district. Everything remains speculative until those future meetings.
"I think the next guy in Enterprise will recommend trading out some of our newer vehicles that have more equity to potentially help defray the cost of the purchases of these other vehicles, but I'm not sure about that," Popp said. "We really want to move to the next step."
According to Olsen's presentation in January, the district could save approximately $89,000 in the first year of the program alone by switching out its 23 oldest vehicles. In that proposal, all vehicles would be switched out by year six of the program, and the district would save approximately $359,000 over 10 years. The district would have the option of exiting the plan at any time.
Superintendent Khris Thexton said the programs are very popular with government entities that operate fleets of vehicles. Not only would the program increase the safety and reliability of vehicles, but also the district's ability to purchase vehicles in a timely manner while still utilizing a reduced government fleet rate and keeping a local dealership involved.