City departments are facing long wait times for equipment

During a recent meeting, City of Sparta’s department heads reported business as usual, and the board of mayor and aldermen approved several purchases, all of which were budgeted items.

All of the city’s department managers reported  they were being told that backlogs and long wait times are being reported for the purchase of items from various suppliers.

“We’ve got our eye on our purchasing situation,” city administrator Brad Hennessee said. “All of the department heads have mentioned what they’ve run into so far. This seems to be pretty well across the board if it’s heavy manufacturing.”

Hennessee told the board that typically quotes are good for 30 days, but recently there has been so much fluctuation in pricing that the manufacturers and suppliers are drastically shortening the amount of time they will honor a quoted price.

 “Now seems like we’re only quoted things for 48 hours, 72 hours,” Hennessee said.

Hennessee said he has reached out to other cities in the area as well as some private sector businesses, and the change seems to be industry-wide and very widespread.

With this new purchasing issue in mind, the city’s electric department requested to purchase multiple transformers from Border States Electric of Nashville in the amount of $68,484.

Mayor Jeff Young told the board the purchase amount was for what  Sparta Electric Department estimated would be needed over the course of 12 months.

“They are telling us now that our lead time for transformers is about 24 to 34 weeks,” utility manager Belva Bess said. “We usually order a few here and a few there, but it’s going to take us at least six months to get any in. We ordered what we generally use in a year, pending no bad storms.”

“We simply didn’t want to take the chances on our electric system,” Hennessee added.

Sparta Police Department also submitted a purchasing request in the amount of $66,674 for two police pursuit SUVs from Lonnie Cobb Ford of Henderson, Tennessee.

“We thought we were going to have a hard time finding vehicles this year,” police chief Doug Goff told the board. “We found somebody who ordered 50, and it looks like we may have a shot at getting some from them.”

Before voting to approve the purchase, alderman Jerry Lowery asked if any of the local dealerships had been given a chance to bid on providing the vehicles for the police department. However, Goff reminded the board there is a statewide contract for government purchases, and it was his understanding that none of the local dealerships were a part of that.

“Not all dealerships participate in the state contract, It is just awarded to a handful of dealerships across the state,” Mayor Jeff Young added. “I’ve tried my best to give the opportunity to local dealerships numerous times, but they just can’t compete with state contract.”

The third purchasing request of the evening was an inhouse purchase with the Sparta Water and Sewer Department requesting to purchase a surplus 1999 International Line truck from the city’s electric department at the cost of $15,000 for the purpose of converting it into a dump truck.

All three purchases, which were budgeted items, were unanimously approved.

Before the board adjourned for the month, alderman Hoyt Jones brought up a concern that he had been approached about by some of the city’s residents of the Creekside subdivision.

“The problem they are having down there with the oncoming traffic is that sometimes they’re turning right coming out of Creekside, and this car comes around to pass, and they have to go over to the ditch to keep from being hit,” Jones relayed, stating that Highway 70 at that intersection does not have a double line to prohibit passing. “I told them that I don’t think the city has anything to do with that, but maybe we could encourage the state to make that a double line a little further down the hill.”

Young asked Hennessee to have the state’s traffic safety group from Chattanooga assess the area the next time they are in the city, which he indicated takes place at least once a month.

The next meeting of Sparta’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen is scheduled for 5 p.m., Aug. 5, at Sparta City Hall.