CANFIELD, Ohio - Some people are unhappy that the park bought three new SUVs just days after the park laid off 13 workers as part of a move to streamline operations.

And one of those new SUVs went to the park director.

Bill Adams, Austintown, is just one person of many who is being critical of the park's move to spend $70,000 on three new Jeeps.

"You don't make staff cuts and then go out and spend on everything else under the sun if you are truly doing it for financial reasons. The timing is just awful," said Adams. 

Park Director Aaron Young says it's all part of his plan to be proactive and save the park money in the long run.

He says he initiated an annual vehicle replacement schedule, which calls for buying new cars each year, which will save on maintenance costs.

"When you have 80 vehicles, having to maintain and schedule replacement for them is a proactive approach to make sure that we are utilizing funds in as efficient manner as possible, and there was no replacement schedule prior to 2015, so the average age was about 15 years," said Young.

So what about one of those new Jeeps going to him?  Young says it's a company car since he's on call 24 hours a day. 

"It was just part of the package that was put together for the Executive Directors in the past, and also currently and truth be told the vehicle that I was driving was towed to the shop because it failed to work for over a week," said Young.

But even the make and model of the new cars has some park advocates concerned.

"The vehicles he's purchased, the Jeep Cherokees, came in last, 20 out of 20, in consumer reviews of the quality of the vehicle so what that says to me is that they are going to be spending a lot of time doing maintenance on these brand new vehicles," said Adams.

The park vehicle replacement plan calls for about five percent of the park's 80 car fleet to be replaced annually.  That's equals to about four each year.