Fort Oglethorpe awards bid for new fuel system
Fort Oglethorpe will soon get a much-needed upgrade to its fuel system after awarding a bid for new equipment in mid-March.
Fort Oglethorpe Public Utilities Director Phil Parker says the city’s current fuel system has some outdated features, which is why his department advertised a bid for a new one.
“A few months ago, we put out a bid for update of our fleet fuel system, which is located at the fire department,” Parker said on March 12. “Our original equipment was built in the mid-1990s, and then in the 2000s, we updated the controllers.”
Parker explained that while technology has drastically improved over the past couple of decades, the current machinery doesn’t always keep up with the city’s needs.
“Now, we’re doing double work in that we have a log book that we fill out in addition to the controller electronically sending the information. We do this simply because some of the time it doesn’t download the information. The pumps are the original pumps from the mid 90s.”
Parker said the one bid that came in was from a company in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“We advertised this locally and also through GMA (Georgia Municipal Association) and received one bid from Estes Equipment Company Inc in Chattanooga. This would be a replacement of the controller and the two fuel pumps; one gas, one diesel. We aren’t looking at doing anything with the tanks at this time.”
The board unanimously approved the bid in the amount of $27,767.
Parker said the equipment will be purchased with funds from the 2014 SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) cycle.