Six months after Plum Mayor John Schmeck announced that the borough's fleet of police cruisers would be repainted black and white at no cost, the issue remains cloudy. Two of the eight vehicles in the fleet have been repainted, but whether or not the work has been paid for is unclear. The local businessman identified by borough officials as the one who offered to do the job for free and repainted one cruiser said this week that he will not be doing any more work for the police department. "I have no plans to continue," said Larry Matter, owner of Larry Matter Auto Service on Saltsburg Road. "I've had enough of that. I don't want to see anymore about it." The issue of repainting the fleet of cruisers came up earlier this month during a council meeting when Mary Louise Anderson, a resident and Plum School Board member, asked if the recent repainting of a second police vehicle, a Ford Explorer, was done at no cost. Schmeck, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, said the vehicle was involved in an accident and was taken to the body shop, where it was repainted black and white. According to the accident report on file in the Plum police department, the Explorer was damaged May 17 when Plum police Sgt. Jeff Armstrong, responding to an alarm at the Plum Community Library, struck a sign post with the right side of the vehicle, breaking the right side mirror and damaging the door and fender. Plum police Sgt. Matthew Feldmeier said the repair work and repainting of the Explorer was done by the lowest bidder, Gerber Auto Body, on Greensburg Road. Feldmeier said the cost of the work was estimated between $2,300 and $2,400, but he has not received a bill. Maria Gingery, interim borough manager, said the borough has spent no money on the job. "We haven't gotten an invoice yet," Gingery said. "They have to repair one panel." Matter said he did not submit a bid to work on the damaged Explorer. "I haven't talked to anyone or seen anyone," Matter said. "I'm not going through that again." Schmeck repeatedly has said the repainting of the fleet would be done at no cost. Residents at subsequent Plum Council meetings have regularly disputed Schmeck's contention that the job was free. Matter has said he did the first cruiser "for people to see, and it was supposed to go from there." He has never said if the work was done at no cost or what he and borough officials had discussed as the financial situation with the remaining cruisers in the fleet. After Schmeck said the work would be done for free, Feldmeier identified Matter as the one who was going to do the work. Feldmeier earlier this week said he planned to talk to Matter about getting the other vehicles repainted. "I haven't spoken to Larry Matter since he painted 206 (a Plum cruiser)," Feldmeier said. "I have to talk to him when we decide to get the others done." Feldmeier said two cars in the fleet will not be repainted because they have high mileage. Feldmeier said he hopes to get a couple of new cruisers by January. Feldmeier could not be reached for comment yesterday. The average cost to repaint a vehicle is $1,500 to $2,000, according to estimates gathered by the Tribune-Review. It typically costs about $300 to have decals placed on repainted vehicles. Reaction among residents to the car colors has been mixed. Some residents have said they like the look of the black and white cars, which some law enforcement agencies believe give a more professional look to police cruisers. Others have said they prefer the plum and gold cars. Resident Eleanor DeMichiei, who prefers the current plum and gold colors, said yesterday the different-colored cars, some plum and gold and two black and white, are confusing. "You have two black and white cars riding around and the others are plum and gold," DeMichiei said. "What the heck is going on• Is this side of the street black and white and the other plum and gold?

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