FARMINGTON — Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols received the go-ahead Tuesday to request bids for three new cruisers from four dealerships.
Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously to let Nichols send out the bid requests pertaining to the specifications he presented to them.
The department plans to get three new sport utility Ford Interceptors with police packages that were budgeted in the 2013-14 county spending plan.
The department bought four of them in the current budget.
The new cruisers will replace three that are five years old and have well over 100,000 miles on them, Nichols said. The older vehicles will be traded in.
The Interceptors are all-wheel-drive vehicles that have good gas mileage; they get 16 to 20 miles per gallon, he said.
“They are pretty darn good cars,” he said.
The department plans to stick with the same type of vehicle so tires and other parts, including cages for police dogs, can be swapped out if necessary.
Another advantage of the cruisers is that winter no longer will be a problem for the department. They go anywhere except for off-roading, Nichols said.
He said specifications will be sent out to four dealerships: Farmington Ford in Farmington, Bailey Bros. Inc. in Livermore Falls, Quirk Ford in Augusta and Hight Ford in Skowhegan.
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