Commissioners choose Southern Bank’s bid for financing truck and grader, Anderson for propane

Two bank representatives were present at Monday’s Ozark County Commissioners’ meeting for the formal opening of financing bids for two large county purchases, a sheriff’s department patrol vehicle and a county road grader. Mason Eslinger, Gainesville branch manager for Stockmens Bank, and Weston Gant, commercial loan officer for Southern Bank in West Plains, attended the bid openings on behalf of their lending institutions. Century Bank of the Ozarks in Gainesville and John Deere dealer Murphy’s Tractor and Equipment Company of Springfield also submitted sealed bids but did not send a representative to the meeting. 

 

Financing bids for patrol truck

The first set of bids that were opened pertained to the purchase of an Ozark County Sheriff’s Department patrol truck, a 2021 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup from a site in Salem, Indiana. The purchase price is $41,561. 

Ozark County acting Chief Sheriff’s Deputy John Russo also attended the meeting on behalf of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department and confirmed that the truck was still available and the sheriff’s department planned to purchase it.

The bids submitted to finance the $41,561 purchase on a five-year fixed loan were:

Southern Bank at 2.625 percent, Stockmens Bank at 2.875 percent and Century Bank, at 3.15 percent. 

Two other options were provided: 

Stockmens Bank offered 3 percent interest on a five-year-fixed loan with no extra fees. When asked what that meant, Gainesville branch manager Eslinger said that the 3 percent rate would include the attorney fees needed for a lease-purchase agreement, which usually costs around $300 or so.

Gant said his bid proposals included the county paying the attorney fees for the lease-purchase agreement. 

As another option, Southern Bank also offered a 2.8 percent rate for a seven-year fixed loan, in case the commissioners wanted to finance the purchase longer. 

“I’ll just go ahead and make a motion, since it’s the cheapest one… to go with Southern 2.625 on five-year fixed with the usual $300 fee,” Presiding Commissioner John Turner said. Eastern District Commissioner Gary Collins seconded the motion, and all three commissioners voted to accept the bid.

“They need to move pretty fast on it. Isn’t that right?” Turner asked. 

“Yes,” Russo said. 

“I’ll just need the info on it,” Gant told Russo, explaining he’d need an invoice and VIN number for the truck. 

“I’ll be able to get that for you today,” Russo said. 

 

Financing bids for road grader

The commissioners then opened the bids for financing a John Deere 770GP motor grader for $159,495 (after trade-in of the county Road & Bridge Department’s old grader). 

The bids were:

Southern Bank at 2.625 percent in a five-year fixed-rate loan or 2.8 percent in a seven-year fixed rate loan; Murphy’s at 2.8 percent in either a five-year fixed rate or eight-year fixed rate; Stockmens Bank at 2.875 percent in a five-year fixed rate or 3 percent in five-year fixed rate with no fees (see previous fees explanation); and Century Bank at 3.15 percent in a five-year fixed rate loan. 

“I’ll make a motion to go with Southern,” Eastern District Commissioner Gary Collins said. Western District Commissioner Layne Nance seconded the motion, and all three commissioners voted to accept the financing bid from Southern Bank. 

“Gary, you just send me an invoice when you get it,” Gant said. 

“I’ll bring it tomorrow,” Collins said. 

 

Propane bids

The third bid opening was for bids for the county’s propane needs for the next year, which included a pressure test on the courthouse’s underground 1,000-gallon tank. 

Anderson Propane submitted a bid for $1.47 per gallon locked rate, and MFA oil submitted a bid for $1.559 per gallon locked rate. 

“I’ll make a motion that we go ahead and take Anderson’s bid for $1.47,” Turner said. Collins seconded it, and all three commissioners voted to accept Anderson’s Propane bid. 

Ozark County Times

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Gainesville, MO 65655

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