Ironton residents may see a few new residents on their streets, courtesy of the Ironton Police Department.

Chief Jim Carey asked the city finance committee for money for the purchase of two cars Tuesday night.

The cars, on sale by the Ohio State Patrol, are 2004 models. It was estimated that it would cost around $1 5,000 for both of the cars once they were painted and outfitted with lights.

Currently, the city has 14 marked vehicles at its disposal, though two are currently out of commission. The city will need 13 cars once two new officers are hired later this year.

Councilman Chuck O’Leary suggested buying the vehicles now and outfitting them as money became available, something that councilman Richard Price said he had concerns about, considering the $8 monthly fee that was recently placed on residents.

&uot;I think with a $400,000 police fee, we need to purchase vehicles that are going to last for a while, we need to go ahead and outfit them and give the police what they need,&uot; Price said.

Price suggested purchasing new cars or a mix of used and new, something that finance committee chairman Bob Cleary said wasn’t feasible with the state of Ironton’s finances.

&uot;I think where we’re at in the city, I don’t see how we could talk about buying new cars,&uot; Cleary said.

Carey concurred, saying he’d rather have an additional police officer rather than brand new vehicles.

In the end, it was decided that would purchase two of the cars from the state patrol auction, while they would continue to investigate the prices of new cars in the coming months.