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Clintonville FD truck order does not go to local Ford dealer

As it turns out, the chassis for a new brush truck for the Clintonville Fire Department was not ordered from Clintonville Motors.

It was reported in the Jan. 15  Clintonville Tribune-Gazette that the order for a new brush truck was moving forward after the Clintonville City Council approved the bid from EJ Metals. Before that issue went to press, the Tribune-Gazette confirmed with Clintonville Fire Chief Shane Krueger that the chassis for the truck was purchased through Clintonville Motors.

On Jan. 21, Ryon Kautz, vice president of Clintonville Motors sent an email to the Tribune-Gazette, stating that the chassis was not ordered through Clintonville Motors. Kautz stated in the email that EJ Metals purchased the chassis from a different Ford dealer.

Kautz added that Clintonville Motors had worked with EJ Metals throughout November and December, and “were under the impression we were to eventually order a truck for the Clintonville Fire Department, but a confirmation order was never completed and purchase order never received from either the Clintonville Fire Department or EJ Metals.”

Upon receiving the email, the Tribune-Gazette contacted Krueger to confirm the chassis wasn’t ordered from Clintonville Motors.

Krueger said in an email that he wasn’t aware the chassis had not been ordered from Clintonville Motors, and he was gathering information from EJ Metals to report back to the city of Clintonville.

Krueger contacted the Tribune-Gazette once he received the information from EJ Metals. Krueger said in an email that the Ford pricing for the chassis increased and Clintonville Motors advised EJ Metals of the need to increase the purchase cost, while another vendor chose to uphold the previous quote. Because of that, EJ Metals ordered the chassis from the other vendor to assure the truck would be completed by the deadline stipulated in the grant that would pay for the truck.

When asked if the price of the chassis increased, Kautz said there was an expiration date for the government price concession. He added that EJ Metals and the Clintonville Fire Department were aware of that, and the chassis was not ordered by the expiration date.

Krueger said he wasn’t aware of a specific expiration date, but Clintonville Motors had cautioned him in previous conversations prior to contracting “that the longer we waited the more risk we faced in being subject to an increase.”

Since the original bid from EJ Metals was higher than the grant amount, Krueger had asked the Clintonville Finance Committee to approve the bid from EJ Metals at a Dec. 9 committee meeting up to the amount allowed by the grant. The committee did not approve it, and asked Krueger to negotiate with EJ Metals to get the price within the grant amount.

After negotiating with EJ Metals to get the price within the grant amount, Krueger informed the city of Clintonville and a special council meeting was scheduled for Dec. 22.

At the Dec. 22 council meeting Krueger warned the council that the price of the chassis could go up the longer it waited to approve the bid from EJ Metals. It approved the bid at that meeting.

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