Inverness Public Utility District directors Monday compromised the district's nuclear-free ordinance in order to buy Fire Chief Michael Meszaros a Jeep Cherokee from Chrysler, a manufacturer of nuclear arms.

"It's a very wimpy ordinance," conceded Director Barbara Dewey, an advocate for a nuclear-free IPUD. Dewey was absent from this week's board meeting.

Although the ordinance prohibits the district from investing in or buying products from companies involved with nuclear technology, it allows directors to make exceptions if there is no "prudent alternative," Dewey explained.

In this case, Chrysler was the only company to bid on the district's proposal for a new vehicle, leaving directors no choice but to purchase the Jeep, said IPUD General Manager Wade Holland.

"There are no US automobile manufacturers that are not involved with the construction of nuclear weapons," he added.

Directors this week also decided it would be imprudent to divest the district's $400,000 from the state investment fund, despite the fact that 70 percent of the fund is invested in government securities, Holland said.

No one is more involved with nuclear weapons than the government, Holland noted, but the district is under strict guidelines where it can invest public money.

Every year, directors consider whether there are any nuclear-free investments that offer a similarly safe return. "Once again,"

Holland said, "the answer is no."

The district will definitely not invest any money to replace the nuclear-free-zone signs at the edge of town. Some of the signs were removed by vandals five years ago.

"I said let's not do it anymore," Dewey told The Light. "I didn't think it was worth $35 to have someone knock it down."