Members of the Audit and Control Committee of the Chautauqua County Legislature listen to a synopsis of Enterprise Fleet Management’s proposal to provide vehicle fleet services to the county. P-J photo by Eric Zavinski

MAYVILLE — The audit and control committee of the Chautauqua County Legislature held a special meeting Monday to host representatives from Enterprise Fleet Management, a vehicle fleet services company.

The county is looking to partner with Enterprise like many other neighboring counties have in order to streamline the fleet management processes and potentially save more than $1 million over the course of 10 years.

Enterprise Account Executive Rob Jaworski and Enterprise Senior Account Manager Dana Barnes brought the committee up to speed about what they were proposing, namely a way to make the county’s fleet of 151 vehicles younger and more cost-effective.

The pair mentioned that the end goal is to form a partnership with Chautauqua County and in the future accomplish “more with less.”

Part of what Enterprise is able to provide is known as an open-end equity lease, a structure that is designed for the county to pay as little as possible because the county party will be paying for how much they use vehicles.

Enterprise would also facilitate the bidding process for getting new vehicles into the fleet. The county would still have overall say in what specific brands or models of vehicles they may want. Enterprise will also be able to sell older vehicles in the fleet.

Jaworski said that in the first year of a potential partnership they would like to identify which vehicles are no longer safe and put in replacement plans for them.

Currently, 41 percent of the county’s light and medium duty fleet is more than 10 years old. There is also no current replacement plan in place, and it would take 11 years to cycle out the entire fleet at current acquisition rates.

Enterprise intends to use the aforementioned open-end lease to fund the county, allowing them to acquire additional vehicles without a large capital budget outlay.

Replacing aged vehicles with newer models was also said to drastically increase fuel efficiency and reduce maintenance expenses. A more proactive replacement plan for vehicles is also intended to maximize potential equity at time of resale, reduce operational expenses and increase safety.

An extra diagnostic program was also offered to keep track of the fleet, which would electronically update Enterprise every day with the durability of the vehicles.

The next step for the county is to make a legislative resolution and present it before three committees: Public Facilities, Administrative Services and Audit and Control again. Audit and Control Committee members are hopeful they can move along in the process by next month.

Enterprise’s proposal synopsis was the latest event in about a year and a half process to provide outsourced fleet services for Chautauqua County.