Commissioners plan for van purchase

A Monday morning special meeting scheduled for Shackelford County elected officials to travel to Abilene in order to look at a seven-passenger van was spent instead at the Courthouse planning a strategy for a vehicle purchase.

The commissioners hope to find inexpensive transportation for a work crew from the Walker--Sayle Unit in Breckenridge.

Judge Robert Skelton explained that the deal on the van that he had found “fell through” last week.

Precinct 4 commissioner Cody Jordan suggested that the court pass a motion that any commissioner or the judge be given the authority to purchase a suitable vehicle so that the court does not have to meet for approval each time a van is located.

A motion passed allowing such a purchase as long as $6,000 is not exceeded.

Arrangements were also made for immediate payment.

As of Tuesday, two of the commissioners were already checking on specific vehicles in Abilene and Brownwood.

The county has been working on a contract with Walker-Sayle for several months, with plans to utilize clients for special assignments, such as trimming trees and brush along county roadways.

There can be a minimum of six and a maximum of eight workers at a time, but commissioners agreed with Skelton at the March 25 session that six at a time would work well, and a seven-passenger van would be adequate.