The Leflore County Board of Supervisors argued Monday about the rules under which the new trucks for the board can be purchased.
The board voted 3-2 against a resolution from District 1 Supervisor Sam Abraham that the county request a state attorney general’s opinion about whether the county first must advertise for bids on the trucks before buying them. District 3 Supervisor Anjuan Brown voted with Abraham.
The trucks are to be used by Brown, Board President Robert Collins and District 4 Supervisor Eric Mitchell.
Chancery Clerk Johnny Gary Jr. said the purchase plan, which was to solicit two quotes to buy three trucks of different makes, is legal. None of the trucks is worth more than $50,000, the legal cutoff before public advertisement is required. Gary said the county’s purchasing clerk has cleared the plan with the State Audit Department.
But Abraham insisted that the trucks’ purchase in that manner likely was against the law. The intention is to buy three trucks that altogether are worth more than $50,000.
The purchase of the trucks was authorized at an earlier meeting.
The topic came up when Brown looked at other board members and asked, “Speaking of trucks, has yours been ordered?”
Mitchell said the truck he would use is on a local lot. Collins said his might still be on an assembly line.
Abraham asked, “How are we getting these trucks without advertising?” After Gary explained, Abraham pushed for an attorney general’s opinion.
“This is ridiculous,” Collins said. “For some reason, the Board of Supervisors has to be scrutinized every time we go out to buy a truck.”
But Abraham, a former longtime county administrator, said, “We have never done what you are doing.”
The disagreement followed another situation involving the purchase of trucks, this time five gravel trucks for a total of $610,000 for use by the road unit system. The low bidder was Truckworx Kenworth in Richland. This purchase was advertised. The problem is that the board wants the trucks delivered as soon as possible, but the vendor is insisting on details about financing, and the county is at the tail end of getting quotes from banks for a lease-to-own agreement.
It voted, at Abraham’s suggestion, to give Gary, in consultation with Board Attorney Joyce Chiles, the authority to pay for the trucks on delivery rather than wait for an invoice and bill that would have been OK’d during a supervisors’ meeting.
Abraham was exasperated, saying that a bill of sale upon delivery would mean that the county must pay for the trucks and it shouldn’t matter to the vendor how the county finances them.
The board also authorized a final contract with Pafford EMS to serve as the county’s 911 ambulance service. The county will subsidize Pafford $149,000 a year for the service and apply funds it gets from the state for that purpose. Pafford’s predecessor, Medstat, had proposed $185,000 a year, according to Medstat officials.
nContact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
