Local church remembers 9/11

Cedartown officials seek increase in buying limit for vehicles

Southside Baptist Church in Cedartown hosted Police Chief Jamie Newsome, above, to speak during their morning service, then also had Staff Sgt. Dave Karnes, right, in to speak to the congregation during memorials for the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that were held over the weekend on Sunday. Congregations all over Polk County joined in remembrance of those who died during the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. sales rather than new stuff, and those surplus vechiles from the government are usually perfectly fine for most of what we’re looking to do with them,” Fann explained.

Federal vehicles, he said, are on a 5-year plan for replacement no matter their condition or how many miles they have, and on an 8-year plan for large trucks or heavy equipment. Based on this, Fann believes the city could be purchasing new trucks for the public works or parks and recreation departments for much less than new trucks, and still get the same amount of service time.

He cited prices for a Chevrolet Tahoe which Cedartown Fire Chief Darrell Stephens wants to be able to use as a command vehicle and carry around a greater amount of equipment in the back protected from the elements.

“By going through a fleet dealer for used vehicles like these surplus cars and trucks from the Federal government, we’re talking about the difference between spending $44,000 on a new Tahoe versus spending $22,000 for a used vehicle with less than 40,000 miles on it,” Fann said.

He added that options for heavy equipment through surplus sales might also be available as well, should the city decide to go down that route in the future.

Fann said the bidding process for used vehicles like these are too slow, which is why he’s requested the cap increase.

“The problem with used vehicles is that it is impossible to put bids onto them,” he said. “By the time you go through the bid process, the vehicle you wanted is probably already gone.”

The current $10,000 cap is too low, Fann said, to be able to purchase used vehicles without finding them with high mileage and future maintenance issues.

City commissioners briefly discussed the issue during their Sept. 6 work session.