FARMINGTON – Franklin County commissioners discussed ways of decreasing purchasing costs at their meeting Tuesday morning.
The board talked about the possibility of buying gasoline, gravel, paper, sand and road culverts less expensively by teaming up with the town of Farmington and SAD 9 to buy them in bulk.
Commissioner Fred Hardy had attended a meeting with Farmington and SAD 9 officials to explore the options.
Right now, sheriff’s deputies must go to department headquarters to fill their vehicles with fuel. Farmington has a fueling facility for its vehicles as well.
There are two options. Hardy believes that the county, town and district will be able to save money if they buy gasoline by the tanker-load even if the tanker needs to deliver to two locations. This will be the case, unless one of the entities moves its fueling facility. But commissioners feel that may be too costly.
The other option is to obtain credit cards through a specific gasoline dealer that would allow employees to fuel vehicles at any dealer location. The cards would provide a discount, he said, and may prove more convenient.
The issue is being studied by Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis.
“Nothing is finalized yet,” said Hardy. “But we’re certainly headed in the right direction.”
The county is already taking advantage of SAD 9’s offer to buy paper at their reduced rate, according to County Clerk Julie McGoon.
In a related issue, Sheriff Dennis Pike brought forth a grievance filed by two union employees, who believe they should receive the same mileage reimbursement as other Franklin County employees.
Nonunion employees have received 37.5 cents per mile reimbursement since June 1. Sheriff’s deputies and other Franklin County union employees receive 27.5 cents per mile, as written in their contract. The contract is somewhat vague, giving the 27.5 cent rate in a section pertaining to deputies, while saying in another section that employees will be reimbursed at a predetermined rate. Pike asked the commissioners to interpret the contract.
The commissioners said they felt they were bound by the contract, which seems to indicate that union employees, deputies or otherwise, will be reimbursed at the 27.5 cent rate. The grievance was denied, although it was noted that the contract language should be “cleaned up” when it comes up for renewal.
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