AUBURN — In a unanimous vote, the Androscoggin County Commission approved a bid from Quirk Auto Group to purchase four vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office.
The $105,826 bid includes three 2018 Ford Interceptor SUVs at $28,641 each and a 2018 Dodge Charger for $25,193, minus $5,290 for trade-in of four vehicles that had about 150,000 miles apiece, according to Chief Deputy William Gagne.
Commissioners had budgeted more than $130,000 for the purchase.
The county received three bids for the sheriff vehicles. Quirk Auto Group, with dealerships in Bangor, Augusta, Portland and Belfast, was the only one to include the Dodge Charger.
Ripley and Fletcher Ford of Paris and Rowe Auburn submitted bids for the three Ford Interceptor SUVs. Both were higher than Quirk’s bid.
Commissioners also quickly denied a request by Commissioner Isaiah Lary of Wales to have all handouts and reports sent out by Friday, five days before the commissioners’ meetings.
Agenda items being voted on are already provided to commissioners by Friday, but Lary also wanted the panel to require all monthly financial reports, department reports and other items to fall under the same directive so he could review them earlier.
Those reports are provided in the commissioners’ packets the day of the meeting.
County Administrator Larry Post thought the directive was impractical. With commissioner meetings scheduled on the first Wednesday of the month, the end of the month would often fall between that Friday and Wednesday’s meeting.
“You can’t have the monthly reports available by that Friday if the month hasn’t closed yet,” Post said.
Lary was willing to amend his motion to say only those reports that were available by Friday would be covered by his proposal.
Commissioner Noel Madore of Lewiston noted the unintended consequences of Lary’s motion on the department heads who compile the reports.
Lary was the only commissioner to support his motion in a 1-6 vote.
In other business:
• Madore suggested that the county website include a section on the history of Androscoggin County, including the history of the county building. Most of the commissioners were intrigued by the idea.
• Post reported that four individuals were interviewed for the vacant county treasurer position. Commissioners went into executive session to discuss the candidates.
• Commissioners will meet with members of the Budget Committee in a workshop May 2 to discuss possible joint meetings during the budget process.
Androscoggin County Building in Auburn.
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