Gage County awards fuel contracts to Sapp Brothers after lowest bids

The Gage County Board of Supervisors voted Feb. 5 to accept the county fuel bids and award contracts to the apparent low bidder, Sapp Brothers.

The vote matters because the awarded contracts cover county diesel and gasoline purchases for county vehicles and equipment.

Road and Bridge supervisor Jurgens opened the sealed-bid results. Two bids were presented: one from Sapp Brothers and one from Farmers Cooperative. The bids described diesel and unleaded gasoline volumes; for example, Sapp Brothers’ diesel price was listed in the bid record as $2.597 per gallon for 63,000 gallons, and Farmers Cooperative listed diesel at $2.70 per gallon for the same quantity (the Farmers Cooperative total was recorded in the bid packet as $170,100). County staff said the gasoline bid from Farmers Cooperative listed $2.67 per gallon for 33,000 gallons (the recorded bid total in the packet was presented as “$88.10” in the meeting transcript and appears to be an incomplete reading of the total line in the packet).

Supervisors discussed whether to include ethanol blends as an explicit option in future solicitations. Mark (highway superintendent) said some newer county vehicles may not be compatible with higher ethanol blends and that sheriff’s vehicles make broad compatibility considerations relevant to fleet choices; supervisors agreed to ask vendors to provide ethanol-blend options in future solicit processes and to study mileage/economics.

Supervisor Jerkins moved to accept the bids and award to the apparent low bidder, Sapp Brothers; Supervisor Haxby seconded. The board voted 7–0 in favor.

No contract start or expiration dates were discussed at the meeting; the county will follow standard purchasing and contract procedures to finalize award documentation.