A 2020 Dodge Durango from M&M Motors won the bidding process for a new sheriff’s vehicle after Deputy Sheriff Steve Maitlen brought two sealed bids to the Union County Board of Supervisors Monday.
Maitlen said there were only two bids because Chevrolet no longer makes a comparable patrol vehicle.
The winning bid of $25,968 — after including the trade-in value of the 2015 Charger currently in use — was more than $4,000 less than the bid from Creston Automotive for a 2020 Explorer.
Maitlen and the supervisors discussed some of the specifications needed for a sheriff’s vehicle.
“It is a law enforcement package. It has all the speed ... brakes, battery ... heavy duty ... shocks,” Maitlen said. “That includes the Hemi motor.”
Tires
The board approved a request from Maitlen to sell the department's used tires on www.govdeals.com.
“We have a pile of tires all the way to the ceiling, they are off the old Crown Vics, a couple off the old Chargers that we no longer have, and they are still good,” Maitlen said. “Even if we got $10 a tire, it’s better than paying $2 (disposal fee) a tire to get rid of them.”
Afton has used the service for several items including a pump they sold for $5,000, Maitlen said. It will not cost the county anything to sell the tires on GovDeals.
“The fees get passed on to the buyer. There’s nothing that we would pay,” Maitlen said. “We don’t have to wait for once a year where we take stuff to an auctioneer and you may get something, you may not.”
If selling the tires this way works out, Maitlen said there are other unused items the department would like to sell — including some tablets that were replaced. Once the account has been created, any county entity could use the service.
Supervisor Rick Friday brought up the fact that the county has an obligation to advertise and allow residents to purchase items that were originally bought with county money.
“Just the rules, we would have to let the people have their opportunity,” Supervisor Ron Riley added.
Maitlen said, “If you just put out there, ‘from now on if we have any extra property, this is how we’re going to sell it.’”
“I wouldn’t have a problem trying it with the tires,” Friday said. “I wouldn’t want to go forward on anything else because we do have auction businesses in the county and not everyone may have access to this.”
Riley said some excess property does not bring any money at auction.
“You just hope somebody takes it off your hands,” he said.
Union County Auditor Sandy Hysell said sometimes it simply gets left out for anyone to claim.
“We can discuss that after we see the success with the tires,” Friday said.
In other county business:
• the board approved the renewal of Crestmoor Golf Club’s liquor license.
• a resolution was passed for $3,821 to finish out a grant to replace the current portable generator that is owned by the state with a permanent one, which would be owned by the county.
• the board discussed creating a written policy for county assisted burials with funeral directors Joe Powers and Bruce Pearson. Powers and Pearson will review the policies of other area counties and return with a proposal Feb. 3