Woods County accepts Industrial Authority donations, authorizes bids for brush rigs and approves fire-equipment requests

Woods County commissioners voted to accept a $94,716 donation from the county Industrial Authority, open a new fund to hold related donated money, authorize bids for replacement brush rigs and approve a local fire department's equipment request, among several other routine actions taken during the meeting.

The board accepted the $94,716 donation tied to a change order for Evely and Associates and approved a resolution to open a new donation fund (listed in the meeting as account 1235-1-2000-4152). County staff said the auditor advised that donations be placed into a designated fund before the money is encumbered; commissioners approved the opening of the fund and directed staff to encumber the amounts discussed, including $88,520 identified for one allocation and the remainder to another recipient noted in the record as Easley. The donation acceptance and the fund-creation resolution were placed on the record and approved by voice vote.

Commissioners also authorized staff to solicit bids for replacement brush rigs for model years 2023 and 2024. Board discussion indicated two cab chassis will be advertised and that one chassis will be delivered without a cab and another with a cab, with local vendors listed for building the beds and for tires and decals. The board voted to move forward with the bid process and to inspect candidate vehicles as part of the procurement.

A request from the 3-D fire department for equipment purchases was presented and approved. The record shows the department had previously received a tanker and had passed some equipment to another locality; the current request listed specific items for purchase and the commissioners approved the request and a motion to proceed.

Other routine actions the commissioners approved included: a transfer of appropriations to capital outlay to fund upfitting for two trucks; approval of road permits for work in District 3 (noting concerns raised about trenching for a rural water line and the possibility of other utilities, such as fiber, being placed in the same trench); renewal of an air gasoline contract for District 1 in the amount of $549.50; and a transfer of $901.54 from the general assessor fund to the assessor fee fund to correct a prior payment posted to the wrong account. Commissioners concluded with a motion to adjourn.

The meeting record shows these items were routine budget and equipment matters; the transcript records little dissent and multiple motions were approved by voice vote with commissioners responding "Aye." The auditor's guidance about opening a specific donation fund was recorded as the basis for the fund-creation action. No formal roll-call vote totals were recorded in the transcript excerpts provided.