New law allows leasing, donating of boro vehicles

SAYREVILLE — The borough may soon donate surplus municipal vehicles to other public and private entities in town.

On Nov. 9, the Borough Council adopted an ordinance that authorizes the donation and leasing of vehicles to the local volunteer ambulance squads and the Board of Education. The vehicles would be those that are owned by the borough, but considered surplus or no longer needed, such as unmarked police and fire department vehicles.

Once vehicles are deemed unnecessary for municipal purposes, the borough typically discards them through disposal or auctioning. However, even though the town has no further use for a given vehicle, other entities in Sayreville may still be able to use it, said Councilman David Kaiserman, who spearheaded the ordinance.

"Just because their specific needs aren't being met doesn't mean someone else's needs can't be met," he said. "Instead of getting rid of those vehicles, there are other departments throughout Sayreville that can find another use for them."

One such entity is the Sayreville Board of Education. The board requested a surplus vehicle to be used on the premises of Sayreville War Memorial High School and Sayreville Middle School to increase safety around the schools' exterior.

"We requested a surplus vehicle so we could have one of our campus security guards patrol the outside of the building, particularly in the morning when the buses come and the afternoon when school is released," Board of Education President Michael Macagnone said.A

Sayreville police officer already patrols the exterior school grounds, he said, but this would be another set of eyes outside the building.

"There's a lot of kids in the schools, and it's just having that additional presence outside … to provide a visible presence in the parking lots," Macagnone said.

Since the school board is a public entity, the borough would be required by law to lease rather than donate the vehicle. But since the board will only be charged a small fee, Kaiserman said the vehicle loan might actually save Sayreville taxpayers money.

"Shared services reduce costs," he said. "So instead of having the taxpayers pay twice, I figured it would be better to have one public entity lease to another public entity. It's not costing taxpayers extra, because instead of having to buy two separate vehicles for the police and BOE, they can share."

The Sayreville Emergency Squad and the Morgan First Aid Squad are private entities that would be able to receive the municipal vehicles at no cost.

Since the volunteer squads have to pay for all equipment themselves, including their own emergency vehicles, the donation would provide a necessary service to the borough volunteers, Kaiserman said.

"For them, buying their own vehicle is extremely expensive. Donations have been a lot lower than normal, and they need support," he said. "So, if the police department has no use for a vehicle, then why not give it to the emergency squads?"

The first aid squads may use the donated vehicles with the stipulation that they are used only for the lawful purposes of the squad and not for commercial purposes, according to the ordinance.

When vehicles become available, it is up to the discretion of the Borough Council to allocate them to the public and private entities.

"I'm really planning for the future, so when the vehicles do become available, they can be transferred very easily," Kaiserman said. "I'm very proud of this ordinance, and hopefully we will get to send a couple of vehicles to each of them — keep the vehicles in the family, so to speak."

Since the ordinance is open-ended, there are no specifications as to the type of vehicles or number of them that can be donated to each entity.

"It is up to the mayor and council's discretion how many each [entity] gets and when," Kaiserman said. "We can give one vehicle or as many as we want, but the immediate goal is to get them one soon."