On a 4-1 vote, the county leaders chose to employ Top Dog Lawn Services, at a cost of $1,150 per month, to cut the grass and maintain the landscaping on the county’s 11 buildings.
The matter was tabled at the last meeting because District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald raised an objection citing that the fee was too low and insinuating that Top Dog may not have fully grasped the scope of the work.
He wanted to use Battle Lawn Service who was the next low bidder at a cost of $1,800 per month and because Battle had done the work the previous year. Donald insisted that Battle knew what was required, which is why he raised his amount over last year’s quote.
On Monday Donald held to his argument that the price presented by Top Dog was too low.
He emphasized that the bid proposal calls for two cuts per month at each site and based on the $1,150 per month price from Top Dog, he implied that would only average out to about $52 per cut for the service provider.
"They have to provide their own mower, own gas, own poison, the spraying, clean up debris for $52 a cut. I know somebody can be the lowest bidder, but it has to be a sensible bid too,” said Donald. He added that when you consider everything it entails, it just doesn’t add up for Top Dog. “That don't make sense,” he said.
Rice said the board members should go by the lowest bidder.
“And if we’re not going to take the lowest bid, there's no need of us doing business." He added that the members must go with the lowest bidder in order to be fair.
Four other companies/individuals submitted proposals that range from $1,900 per month to $2,777 per month.
Attorney Richard Noble appeared before the county lawmakers to put in a request on behalf of his client, Delta Cold Storage, LLC, to have the county issue a 10-year Ad Valorem tax exemption and it was unanimously approved.
In reference to the City of Indianola’s apparent initial hesitance Attorney Johnny McWilliams said, “I was surprised. The county, and the city too, has historically granted these types of tax exemptions in order to entice industries to come here and to expand when they get here. So I would strongly recommend that you approve this.”
Donald stated that it was his impression that to qualify for exemptions, the business was required to create a number of jobs and it had to be presented prior to work being done.
McWilliams explained that the confusion that people had was likely due to them not understanding that there are two types of exemptions—one for a qualified business that has to be requested in advance and a different exemption for an industry that requires the expansion/construction to be completed first. But, it has to be requested within a specified amount of time following the completion and the cold storage falls under the latter.
“It’s discretionary, you don’t have to do it, but I guarantee you if this county starts taking the position that we’re not going to grant this sort of exemption, then those companies are going to expand in Washington County, Leflore County, they’re going to go where these exemptions are used as they are authorized to be used by the governing authorities in those counties,” McWilliams added.
After an informative discussion on their options with regards to the purchase of 19-yard dump trucks, the county leaders voted unanimously to recruit Southern Procurement to use the reverse auction process to seek bids on three new vehicles.
Another discussion on whether to buy up to four used small dump trucks at auction versus one used and three new ones through bids ended with a 4-1 vote to just buy the one used vehicle with Donald voicing the lone no. He was not against the purchase, but against authorizing the purchase of only one used truck instead of as many as four.
He said the other members were tying Road Manager T.J. Fairley’s hands. Fairley was only given permission to purchase one used truck at auction with a cost not to exceed $45,000. The purchase of the new trucks was again tabled.
Fairley had suggested purchasing used trucks over new ones because of the regen system that exists on all heavy-duty trucks manufactured after 2007. “If we can find some good used trucks, it would be better I think to get used trucks,” Fairley said.
He is planning to use the vehicles for short trips and slow work. And Donald maintains that when you're buying a truck for slow operation, such as patching, you need a truck that does not have the regen system on it because the trucks have to operate at a sustained RPM rate in order for the system to function properly.
Bids have been received on the new trucks for a cost of about $111,000 each, but the regen system can be a impediment when doing the type of roadwork Fairley has in mind. “You don’t need to spend a third of a million dollars to hall seven yards from the barn to the road,” Donald said. He said prices on good used dump trucks start at around $25,000.
Fairley is in immediate need of at least one truck for the Blaine area and is planning to attend an auction tomorrow to purchase a used truck for hopefully under $40,000. Donald said, “If you can trust a used truck for Blaine, why can’t you trust more used trucks?” A representative from one of the truck manufacturers was in the audience and concurred with Donald’s statements and reasoning.
He added that if the new trucks do not regen properly it would affect the warranty and the buyback option on the vehicles.
However, the notion of purchasing more than one used truck didn't buoy well for President Riley Rice or District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson; they felt the used truck warranty was not adequate.
The discussion lasted for nearly an hour and even after asking and listening to the response of the truck manufacturer, asking for Fairley’s opinion and insinuating that the decision should be his to make, they still opted not to take it.
After the vote was cast, citizen Peirce McIntosh vocally expressed his dismay at the majority’s choice. “I know we are to do things decently and in order, I’m going to walk out. I can’t stand being in here, hearing what’s going on and we’re not making the right decisions,” McIntosh said.
