District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald is still expressively unhappy about the recent decision by a majority vote of the county leaders to purchase a $300,000 garbage truck and the subsequent pronouncement to purchase a second.
Donald is steadfastly convinced that the "Cadillac" truck is not suitable for Sunflower County's rural roads, and on Monday during the Board of Supervisors meeting, Donald directed his concerns to Joe McCalib, a representative of Dennis-Eagle Inc., the truck’s manufacturer.
Also on the telephone line was Will Burroughs, the retail distributer of the vehicle.
Donald mentioned at least seven issues the county has experienced so far regarding the functionality of their $307,000 purchase. He seemingly chided the other members for agreeing to hastily purchase the first truck and asked that they not purchase a second truck of the same kind.
Donald said, "I asked Johnny (McWilliams), could we not buy that second truck. That wouldn't be very smart of this county to spend $307,000 on a second truck that you done had seven different issues, one of them before you purchased and six of them after you purchased. That wouldn't be smart to me for the county to spend that kind of money. Those two trucks together are $614,000."
"I ask that we cancel the second P.O. (purchase order)," Donald said.
He proceeded to describe each one of the perceived flaws that the county workers had experienced including the cab working itself loose from the chassis, an inadequate alternator bracket that came loose and two different busted hoses.
"The cab thing was really a problem to me because that was dangerous to the people that's driving it," Donald said.
Donald also explained his statement about an issue with the truck even before the majority of the board members voted to buy it.
"The County Administrator at that time, Mr. Fred Washington, pointed out that it had two bolts broken on it when they came to show it. And Mr. Will Burroughs said that we'll get it fixed and they went and got it fixed. That was before we purchased it, it had two bolts broke on it."
Additionally, he said, "I call it a Cadillac, I said this Dennis-Eagle is a Cadillac truck, it's not built for the terrain that we have on our county roads. It's setting too low and in the winter time it won't be able to run down the roads (and) in the summertime it's real rough and hard and bumpy."
His contention is that the truck that was purchased was built for city streets and not country roads and that even though it has a good warranty, it's not an ideal scenario to constantly stop because of needed repairs. Donald said, "We need a truck that is going to be able to keep going on terrain such as this."
In response to Donald’s assertions, McCalib said, "From the Dennis-Eagle standpoint, the truck is built to handle those kinds of roads and we've got trucks in other areas, not too far from you, that do go on very, very, rough, both soft and hard county roads."
He specified Pensacola and Missouri and said the trucks in those areas are seeing the same kind of environments as the ones here. He specifically mentioned the cab bolts issue and said, "One of our assemblers on the line did not torque them back correctly."
He then explained the process and stated that the loose bolts were not a result of the conditions of the roads, but resulted from an assembler not following a prescribed procedure, but that has been corrected and straightened out.
As for the other items, including a faulty radiator hose and an improperly functioning door handle, McCalib said they were the results of "a vendor/supplier quality issue" that has also been addressed. He said the door handle issue affected approximately 20 trucks.
McCalib stated that he was not aware of the issue with the alternator bracket or the pressure hose, and he could not address those.
So, Donald explained that the air pressure hose prevented the truck from getting enough pressure to back up a hill in order to dump the garbage at the landfill. In addition, one of Burroughs' mechanics allegedly stated that he would have to construct a bracket to properly hold the alternator in place because the original one that was on the truck was not suitable for rough roads.
Donald said, "To pay this type money for something and then we, in less than two months, got six different issues with it."
Subsequently referencing McCalib's comments regarding vendor quality issues, Donald said, "That has nothing to do with us who y'all use as a manufacturer. My problem is, we have paid you for something that is not being kept running that is not being used to our benefit."
Donald reiterated his earlier sentiment regarding the operational breakdowns and emphasized, “Three of them happened, were discovered at one time over a week ago.”
McCalib said it was his understanding that the downtime had been minimal and that Burroughs has made proactive efforts to address each of what he called "smaller hiccup issues."
He further asserted that the truck has a good warranty, good reputation and a good performance record in diverse types of environments. "I'm trying to get my head wrapped around what the issues are so we can get them addressed and get you that confidence that you're looking for," McCalib said.
Donald told McCalib that he had already named four of the issues and as for the downtime, he explained that the garbage pickup crews work late hours and on weekends and that one of the issues caused the truck to become non-operational on a Friday and was not repaired until sometime that Sunday.
Burroughs then explained the procedure associated with their pre-delivery inspection process and explain that they check everything and whenever an issue is discovered that is not a part of their normal inspection, it is then added to the checklist.
He explained that since his company also operates trucks, it is typical to discover loose bolts, hoses and such during the initial driving period.
Burroughs then stated that he had heard that the county has been having issues with its used trucks and that he has offered his services because he knows Sunflower County is “trying to play catch up” with the garbage collection. He said they would take care of any issues that develop.
Donald responded. "Our used trucks shouldn't even be a part of this discussion here. I'm talking about one that we paid $307,000 for and we've had several issues out of it and I personally don't feel like this county needs to purchase a second Dennis-Eagle." Donald said that if they get a second truck it should not be that brand/manufacturer.
President Riley Rice defended Burroughs’ statement and said he was simply offering his services to help with the used trucks.
Referring back to Burroughs’ statement regarding the pre-delivery inspection, Donald said it apparently was not done on the truck that they received.
Burroughs asserted that if all of the items were not caught during inspection that it does not mean an inspection was not done. He assured they would take a closer look at those issues during future inspections.
To seemingly put and end to the back and forth, Attorney Johnny McWilliams asked McCalib and Burroughs if they intend to stand behind their product 100% and both affirmed that they would. “Alright, we intend to hold you to that, "McWilliams said.
The men said they were up to the challenge and McWilliams responded, "You haven't proved that way so far, we'll see. But that's our position."
After that, Donald re-emphasized that if they were going to buy a second truck, it should not be the same kind. He asserted that there are no other Dennis-Eagle trucks within a hundred mile radius of the county.
District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson expressed that if they tried to order another truck it could take another six months or longer before a new truck arrives, while the truck from Burroughs is expected soon.
She added that her constituents are pressuring her to get their garbage picked up. Dickerson said, "We've got to take a risk sometime for our constituents. I know this board don't like to do anything for the constituents, they always worried about the money all the time."
She said a resident told her that a group of residents have decided to protest and not pay their bills until their garbage is picked up on a weekly basis because they are "sick and tired." Dickerson reasoned that the problem cannot be solved without an additional truck. She said the county needs to buy or rent a truck and then asked the other members what they were going to do and what is the solution.
I'm saying all of that to say sometimes you've got to put the interest of the people first," Dickerson said.
Donald maintained that additional trucks would not help pick up the garbage if they don't have the drivers to man the trucks.
District 3 Supervisor Ben Gaston said that after having listened to all of the opinions that he is satisfied with the explanation given by the manufacturer and distributor and the timeliness in which they have responded to the issues. "I'm satisfied with the truck we've got, I'm satisfied with the one we are buying," he said.
He too stated that he has had constituents complain and one group that said they were going to stop paying their monthly bills and bring a dumpster into their neighborhood and use it until the county could get there act together. He mentioned one person whom he said has not had their garbage picked up in five weeks.
Rice also expressed his desire to move forward with the purchase. Donald said, "I see y'all have your three votes." Rice interrupted, "It's not about three votes. Don’t say it's about three votes, it's about serving the citizens."
Donald asked if he could be allowed to continue without being interrupted and Rice indicated that he could. "But don't you keep saying three votes,” Rice said. Donald responded that Rice didn't have the right to tell him what to say. However, Rice reiterated that Donald should not say any more about “three votes.”
Donald responded, "So, you have your three votes to buy the truck, the truck does not pick up garbage, drivers pick up garbage." He stressed that if the garbage has not been picked up in five weeks it wasn't the truck's fault, but someone who has not been going by and picking up the trash.
Donald said turnovers and new hires not yet knowing the routes and being able to find all of the roads is the problem.
He said, "You can buy 10 trucks if you wanna, unless they get in the truck and drive to the house and pick the garbage up, it won't be picked up." Donald also emphasized that the trucks the county now have are not raggedy, but simply missing parts that they are unable to get in because of nationwide shortages.
He suggested that instead of buying a $307,000 truck that they should concentrate on spending a few dollars to fix the trucks they already have.
He called on the members to use the county’s money as if it was their own, noting that if they had a problem with their current vehicle they wouldn't go and buy a new one, but would try to fix it.
