Allen County commissioners set a New Year’s resolution to be more consistent in their purchasing practices as they finalized some big-ticket end-of-the-year deals and looked toward future expenses.
Commissioner Bruce Symes pointed out an inconsistency in the way commissioners approve purchasing requests. Sometimes they’ll immediately approve a request while other times ask for more bids or time for review.
A lot has to do with the way department heads submit requests.
All three commissioners took department leaders to task for submitting urgent requests with little time for review and often just one bid to consider.
The latest example came during Thursday’s final meeting of the year. Chelsie Angleton, 911 director, asked commissioners to approve $12,184 for a new server. The 911 center’s server unexpectedly went down and as it was being repaired, she learned its warranty had expired.
Earlier this month, commissioners scrambled to adapt when a contractor said he wasn’t informed about a deadline and wanted to submit a late bid, which came in about half the cost of the lowest bid that had already been revealed publicly. Commissioners ultimately didn’t accept his bid.
Symes said he appreciates the way department leaders manage their offices and equipment, but sometimes they don’t give commissioners enough information or time to review their requests.
“I’d like to see all of us work on this bid system and just have a more comfortable feeling when it’s time to approve these requests,” he said.
Commissioner David Lee objected to Angleton’s request, noting she submitted just one bid from Advantage Computer. He said he understands why; Advantage services all of the county’s technical equipment.
However, he said he would like to see more options and suggested she do more research. He noted Road and Bridge Director Mark Griffith had been using Sourcewell, a purchasing cooperative for governments, schools and nonprofit organizations, to find lower prices and suggested she look into that option.
Chairman Jerry Daniels agreed with Lee’s general premise, that department heads need to do more research before coming to commissioners. However, in this case, he was concerned about public safety should the server go down again before Angleton had time to do that sort of due diligence.
Angleton also pointed out she learned about the problem on Dec. 12 and wasn’t able to bring the matter to commissioners on Dec. 13, which was the last meeting until Thursday.
Daniels and Symes approved Angleton’s request 2-1 with Lee voting against.
Dozer purchase
Just minutes before Angleton met with them, commissioners approved spending $559,417 for a new D-60 dozer at the landfill.
It was quite a bargain, Public Works Director Mitch Garner said, as a new dozer is typically about $700,000 but the county received discounts by offering a trade-in and buying the item from Sourcewell.
The dozer won’t be delivered until 2024, though. Commissioners weren’t happy about the delay but agreed it was best to buy the equipment now to avoid a possible price hike in the new year.
