By Lisa P. White
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 05/03/2011 02:28:23 PM PDT
Updated: 05/03/2011 02:28:23 PM PDT
MARTINEZ -- The Contra Costa County civil grand jury has recommended that Martinez review its procedure for buying spare auto parts and explore sharing the county's vehicle maintenance facility.
In a report released last week, the grand jury reviewed the way Contra Costa County and the 19 cities in the county manage the upkeep and use of the fleets of vehicles used by police, public works and other departments. The grand jury collected the information through a survey, forewoman Linda Chew said.
The county and six cities own their vehicle maintenance facilities, eight cities contract out for maintenance, Clayton and Lafayette use Concord's corporation yard, and Orinda maintains only its public works vehicles.
Pittsburg and Martinez are the only cities that lease their facilities. Martinez pays $18,000 per year for the downtown property where it stores and repairs vehicles and heavy equipment.
City leaders have been looking for a place to move the corporation yard for several years. Mayor Rob Schroder said the existing location is not ideal because the yard floods when Alhambra Creek overflows.
He also said the yard is inconsistent with the council's vision for the downtown which includes more housing and possibly realigning Berrellesa Street so that it runs along the creek's edge.
But plans to purchase a property on Howe Road fell through last year, as did a proposal to share the school district's corporation yard, he said.
The grand jury recommends that the council and the county board of supervisors, "explore the feasibility of consolidating their maintenance facilities and maintenance management systems."
The county's corporation yard may be close to the city's, but that doesn't mean it's possible to share, Schroder said.
"We also did talk to the county, but city staff reported that the county facility wouldn't work for us and (the county is) already bursting at the seams," he said.
The grand jury noted that Martinez does not use a maintenance management system to track costs. Such software can track purchase price, repairs, gas mileage and parts used as well as flag dates for smog checks and other routine maintenance services for each vehicle, said Public Works Superintendent Bob Cellini, who oversees the city's fleet.
"It really gives you a better history rather than the way we do it, which is all manually entered," he said.
Cellini said he would like to buy such software, but it's expensive. The system the county uses would cost Martinez $100,000 for five years, he said.
The grand jury also reviewed the spare parts inventories kept by the county and each city. According to the report, the grand jury used the total spare parts inventory value each city reported on the survey to determine the "per vehicle" value.
The reported $20,000 value of the inventory in Martinez amounts to $465 per vehicle, well above the $206 per vehicle average of 11 other government entities, the report says.
However, Cellini questioned the way the grand jury came up with that figure. The report indicates that Martinez has a fleet of 64 cars, vans, SUVs and pickup trucks. But Cellini said the city sent a list of about 90 vehicles to the grand jury -- including motorcycles and heavy-duty dump trucks -- that use the spare parts.
Even taking into account the 64 vehicles the report attributes to Martinez, the $20,000 value of the city's inventory would amount to $312.50 per vehicle, not the $465 cited in the report.
"I understand why they're doing this. I do believe that years ago cities were stocking a lot of parts that would go obsolete," Cellini said. "I understand where they are coming from with the survey, I just don't understand where they are coming from with that figure."
Finally, the report criticized Martinez and other cities for allowing staff to take vehicles home, a practice the grand jury said "results in significant taxpayer expense." Cellini said he and two other staffers who take vehicles home are on-call 24 hours per day. The other six cars he believes, are assigned to the police department.
Overall, Schroder said city leaders will review the grand jury's recommendations and respond to them in writing as required.
But he added, "I personally don't think that particular study points out any glaring inconsistencies or inefficiencies."
Lisa P. White covers Martinez and Pleasant Hill. Contact her at 925-943-8011. Follow her at Twitter.com/lisa_p_white.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17983860?nclick_check=1
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