During a special call meeting on Tuesday, the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors voted to execute an emergency reverse auction to purchase three new garbage trucks because on Friday all of the trucks were out of service. However, they later changed their minds after the bids came in.
District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald said he had no problem with voting to approve the reverse auction because the trucks are needed, but questioned the legality of being able to purchase the vehicles as part of an emergency situation. He essentially wanted to make sure the emergency was being declared correctly.
Southern Procurement Representative Vaughn Blaylock assured him that trash piling up in the county during a pandemic qualified as a health problem and therefore an emergency. "An emergency purchase, by definition does not require advertising at all. The board is simply required to make a finding that the current condition meets the requirements of an emergency, and then moves to make that purchase," Blaylock said.
Attorney Johnny McWilliams had also left some guidelines for the board members to follow in order to be in compliance with regulations regarding emergency purchases, including getting photos and possibly videos of the accumulated trash and a statement from the health department.
The lawmakers were apparently scheduled to open bids at the next regular meeting on August 24 for new trucks, but were told that if they deemed it an emergency they could go ahead and do it immediately.
District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson made the motion to conduct an emergency reverse auction for three 25-yard, double tipper, four-wheel drive trucks with disc brakes, a four-year warranty and four-year buyback plan.
It was noted that the person who made the original motion would also have to rescind a prior motion to bid on the trucks through the traditional manner.
Blalock said that by enacting the emergency purchase they would get bids from every vendor in the state who had trucks on the ground ready for purchase. The process was slated to take only a couple of hours.
However, County Administrator Fred Washington cautioned the leaders not to act too hastily. He mentioned a similar truck that he had found online for just under $200,000. “It may be the lowest and best bid this afternoon, but when you’ve got something like that, something we pulled up online for $199,000.”
When the results of the emergency auction were revealed, the bids were more than $100,000 more than the comparable truck that Washington found online. “We got these prices, and they’re way up there, over $300,000,” Washington said.
Addressing Southern Procurement representative Mala Brooks, Donald said, “I’m not fin (sic) to vote to pay no $100,000 more for a truck cause it’s in Mississippi. That’s crazy and we’re trying to buy three of them, that’s $300,000.”
After a lengthy discussion and several phone calls seeking other options and alternatives, President Riley Rice, Donald and District 3 Supervisor Ben Gaston voted 2-1 not to accept the bids from the emergency reverse auction and continue advertising using the traditional manner.
Dickerson could not be present for the afternoon session due to a previous appointment and District 4 Supervisor Anthony Clark was absent.
Washington said on Wednesday that one of the two trucks that the county purchased is down, but he expects the repairs to be made on Wednesday. He said the truck that they borrowed from the city of Moorhead is also down and in the shop awaiting repairs.
“However, the crews from the down trucks are still operating with the assistance of the road department crews and equipment,” assured Washington.
