Supervisors may auction items online

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
July 18, 2003
Lauderdale County supervisors may consider using a Web site based in Montgomery to auction old equipment such as used vehicles and machinery.
During a work session Thursday, supervisors saw a presentation on how the Web site works. Robert L. Bowen, a representative of GovDeals, said the site has a global bidding audience that includes all 50 states and 19 foreign countries.
Craig Hitt , the Lauderdale County District 3 supervisor who also serves as board president, said he liked the idea.
Governments submit items for auction on the Web site, www.govdeals.com, for free. The GovDeals company takes a 7.5 percent commission on what is sold.
Supervisors could consider using the Web site at their formal meeting on Monday. They also plan to vote Monday whether to authorize renting three additional voting machines for upcoming elections.
Lauderdale County Administrator Rex Hiatt said the county election commission advised him that because of redistricting and the addition of two new precincts, no more "extra" voting machines will be available.
Some precincts are equipped with more than one voting machine.
Rental would cost $500 per machine for each election used. The total rental for the August party primary elections and runoffs, as well as the November general election, would total $4,500.
Hiatt said the election commission recommended renting four machines as a precaution. Supervisors said they could save money by renting three machines.
The Lauderdale County Supervisors meet on the first and third Monday of each month. The next regular board meeting will be 5 p.m. Monday in the supervisor's board room of the Raymond P. Davis courthouse annex, 410 21st Ave.