County to lease 13 vehicles

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Thirteen county vehicles — including four pickups for the sheriff’s office — will be leased through Enterprise Fleet Management, county commissioners voted Monday.

Enterprise representative Ken Olsen projected that leasing the vehicles would cost the county $130,000 a year, including management costs.

He estimated that selling 13 existing county vehicles to be replaced would net $111,000.

The leased vehicles will be sold after an average of four years, with the sale money returned to the county.

In addition to the four pickups for the sheriff’s office, the agreement would include an SUV for the ambulance director, four pickups for road and bridge department, one pickup for the county park and lake, a car for the appraiser’s office, a pickup for the transfer station, and a pickup for the planning and zoning department.

Exactly which vehicles will be leased is not yet carved in stone.

“We will tweak that as we go,” county administrator Tina Spencer said.

The agreement is likely to be finalized by the end of the month, she said.

In other business Monday, commissioners heard a $5,500 budget request from Kansas Legal Services managing attorney Ty Wheeler.

“We don’t compete with local attorneys,” Wheeler said. “It’s usually the local attorney who asks for help.”

The non-profit law firm provides mediation and representation for victims of domestic violence, the homeless, children in foster care, the elderly, farmers, disabled people, people seeking access to health care, and people who need life skills and employment training.

During 2024, the organization represented 44 Marion County residents. It no longer accepts public defender cases, and 25 Marion County cases were rejected, Wheeler said.

Commissioners also approved a conditional use permit to convert a silo into a home, heard from Marion resident Lorrie Peter who said she was concerned about noise and blinking lights from Sunflower Wind turbines, and interviewed behind closed doors a candidate for emergency medical services department head.