General Services Committee recommends surplus of city equipment and approves $10,000 sale to Spirit Lake

The General Services Committee on March 9 recommended that city council declare assorted municipal equipment surplus and approved a negotiated $10,000 sale of a specialty video pipe-inspection van to the city of Spirit Lake, Idaho.

Justin Kimberling, the city’s streets and engineering assistant director, told the committee that a mild winter allowed crews to clear out cold-storage items and that many pieces had been passed between departments until they reached the end of useful service. He described older vehicles and specialty parts that are no longer economical to repair: "Most of them have either mechanical failures or, basically, the cost to repair them is beyond their actual worth anymore," Kimberling said.

Kimberling said the department is offering miscellaneous equipment and a few small structures at auction, but the video inspection van required a different approach because of its built-in, specialized equipment. "We would like to sell this to the city of Spirit Lake for the cost of $10,000 instead of taking it to auction," he said, describing the van as out of date but still serviceable for a smaller agency.

Committee members moved and seconded a recommendation to council to declare the listed items surplus and authorize auction sales where appropriate, then voted to recommend approval of the direct sale to Spirit Lake. The motions carried.

The committee did not record a detailed item-by-item bid or reserve estimate in the discussion. Kimberling noted a 2003 truck among the lots with about 181,000 miles and roughly 18,000 hours of run time and said several small items (including former scorekeeper booths) likely would bring limited proceeds but were preferable to disposal costs.

The committee’s recommendation will go to full council for final action per the city’s surplus and disposition procedures.