Cherry Hill Police to lease nine new vehicles
Cherry Hill residents who look closely at the police cars driving around town in the coming months may see some differences.
There will be some new police cars driving around town. The cars will have the same black color scheme with a gray stripe, but the actual make and model will be different.
Cherry Hill Council approved a resolution to lease nine new police cars at last Monday’s meeting. The police cars will be 2015 Ford Interceptors.
The new police cars are a move away from the Dodge Chargers the police department has used the last few years. Chief of Police William Monaghan said the police department decided to make the move from Dodge to Ford because of problems with maintenance.
“The Chargers have been giving us maintenance problems, and the maintenance costs are high,” he said.
The township will have a monthly lease payment for three years and plans to purchase the vehicles for $1 at the end of the three years. The total cost of the nine vehicles, including the installation of equipment, is $412,812.
The costs of leasing the nine vehicles will have a minimal impact on the municipal budget. Monaghan said federal forfeited and confiscated funds are being used to help pay for the vehicles. Those funds will also help pay for 11 new video systems and 15 wireless microphones, basket weave holsters and home charging units. Council approved these purchases in a separate resolution.
Monaghan said the new video systems will mostly go in the new vehicles, with a few set aside for installation in existing cars.
“We’re also outfitting our supervisory vehicles with cameras,” he said. “They don’t have video cameras right now.”
Ordinance to curtail Chambers Avenue parking
Residents living along Chambers Avenue will likely see fewer cars parked on their street in the near future.
Council approved an ordinance on first reading at last Monday’s meeting putting parking restrictions on Chambers Avenue. The new ordinance would make parking on the street allowable by permit only, with permits being issued to local residents. Non-permit parking would be prohibited.
Monaghan said the ordinance was proposed after the police department fielded numerous complaints from residents in the area about the number of vehicles parked along the street. Monaghan said vehicles from adjacent businesses such as Cherry Hill Dodge were parking along the street instead of at the business.
“This will eliminate the parking on the street and will hopefully put to bed any issues,” Monaghan said.
The second reading and public hearing for the ordinance is scheduled for the next council meeting on July 27.
Budget update
Township chief financial officer Michelle Samalonis informed council at the meeting work is progressing on the township’s 2016 fiscal year budget, just prior to council passing a resolution adopting a temporary budget. The township uses the temporary budget from July 1 until the adoption of the 2016 budget.
Samalonis said the budget is on track to be introduced at council’s meeting on Aug. 17. More information on the budget and the tax impact for residents will be available at the meeting. The budget is on schedule to be up for adoption in September.
