On Thursday, the Troup County Board of Commissioners discussed proposals to declare 23 vehicles — many with between 100,000 and 200,000 miles on the road —  as surplus to be sold. Then, purchase five new trucks from a local dealer.

The county has purchased a number of vehicles this year to replace older vehicles that County Manager Eric Mosley said were costing more to repair then they were to replace. It was also noted during the meeting that many vehicles being declared surplus also spend hours idling on a daily basis, as with sheriff’s office vehicles. The surplus vehicles are sold at an online auction, with the revenue from those sales benefiting the county.

“These [surplus vehicles] are vehicles that primarily come from the purchase of all the new vehicles,” Purchasing Director Diana Evans said. “We have asked everyone that got a new vehicle to turn in a vehicle, so that our fleet does not increase all the time, and we would like these declared surplus so that Glenn [Downs, county shop director,] can sell them on Govdeals and get rid of them for us.”

Mosley said that in some cases departments are turning in two old vehicles when they receive a new vehicle, and the county is working to make sure that unusable and surplus vehicles are sold in a timely manner.

“This year, we have done a really good job of getting them out the door, and actually making some profit off of those vehicles that are being turned in, which is wonderful,” Mosley said. “That is going into our revenue budget.”

Commissioner Lewis Davis confirmed with staff that vehicles being sold are at the end of their usable lifespan, and Evans said that vehicles that are no longer usable for high mileage departments are sometimes rotated into use for low mileage departments.

“When it is feasible, if somebody turns in a vehicle that is on the road a lot and it would be economical for a different department who has a vehicle not in quite as good shape, we rotate them out,” Evans said.

Downs said that the vehicles will be placed on Govdeals.com in batches in order to make it easier for staff to answer questions from bidders.

Meanwhile, five new vehicle purchases were also considered. Troup County had originally planned to wait until the next budget cycle to purchase the vehicles, but Evans said that it had become clear that the purchases could not wait.

“These [first three vehicles] are for two departments that have already received vehicles this year, but the vehicles we have left, we did not realize the really bad condition they were in,” Evans said. “Rather than waiting until next year, we would like to purchase three more from SPLOST — two for the marshal’s office, one for building maintenance.”

The cost for the three trucks is expected to be $91,242.

The remaining two vehicles will be purchased through the general fund.

“The other two trucks will not come from SPLOST. They will come from the general fund and are much needed by property appraisal and building and zoning, because their cars are just falling apart,” Evans said. “We are talking about a 2000 Taurus that has really been used, and it is time. We feel like there is money in this budget that we can move around and make those purchases this year so that it won’t be a burden added to our next year’s budget.”

The two trucks are expected to cost $41,706.

Davis asked that Evans look into the cost difference of buying a four-wheel drive truck instead of the proposed two-wheel drive truck for the building and zoning department, due to areas where the truck would likely be used. Building Official Jay Anderson said that the clearance from the ground would be the most important feature of a new vehicle for the department, since they regularly travel through construction entrances.

According to information from the meeting, the trucks will be purchased from Mike Patton Ford at state contract pricing.

Other items covered during the meeting included:

4The Troup County Board of Commissioners heard a request to lift the hiring freeze to fill the budgeted position of building inspector to replace an employee who resigned.

4The board of commissioners heard a request to lift the hiring freeze to fill the budgeted position of county planner, since the former county planner had taken another job.

4Citizen Engagement Specialist Rachel Camp updated the board of commissioners on the launch of the CivicReady mass notification system. Citizens can register via Troup County’s website at Troupcountyga.org, or directly at Troupcogov.regroup.com/signup.

The Troup County Board of Commissioners will meet again on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at 100 Ridley Avenue.