By Gary Lloyd
The Trussville City Council on Tuesday approved of purchasing four trucks for school resource officers.
The Ford F-250 bi-fuel trucks were purchased from Jim Skinner Ford for a total price of $155,572.
Almost immediately after the Newtown, Conn., Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in December, Trussville Mayor Gene Melton and Trussville Police Chief Don Sivley asked that $400,000 be set aside from the contingency reserve fund for school resource officer needs.
The city council in December had approved a measure to set up funds up to $400,000 to Trussville Police Department’s budget for school resource officers. That $400,000, from the city’s contingency reserve fund, would cover $250,000 for salary and benefit line items, and $150,000 for equipment in the police budget.
The city council in February reversed the budget amendments for school resource officers because it appears that by the time the hiring and training process is done, and by the time the schools are ready to implement new procedures, this fiscal year will almost be over and the amount will not be needed in this budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
School resource officers have been in place at Hewitt-Trussville middle and high school since before the Newtown, Conn., mass shooting. Since that shooting, additional security measures have been put into place at Paine Primary and Paine Intermediate schools.
The city council also approved of purchasing a small bi-fuel Ford F-450 dump truck for Trussville Parks and Recreation for $61,966.50 from Adamson Ford.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.