Payne County weighs new rule for junked equipment

A pole saw was apparently stolen from a Payne County road crew truck this summer, according to Commissioner Zach Cavett. The theft is what prompted him to propose a new policy requiring proof that county equipment has no remaining value before it can be declared junk.

Cavett raised the broader issue publicly during the Payne County Board of Commissioners' meeting June 29, as the board approved disposal of eight pieces of equipment from the Glencoe Fire Department, questioning how the county verifies a department's claim that an item is worthless.

In a follow-up interview with The Stillwegian, Cavett said the theft is what actually prompted him to think through the issue: an employee in his own road crew said a pole saw had been secured in the back of a truck, but it was gone by the time they reached their destination.

The employee drove back along the route to search for the tool and couldn't find it, according to Cavett. He said he believes someone driving by saw it unsecured and took it.

"That made me think," Cavett said. "I guess we're going to have to declare it surplus and then dispose of it by saying it got lost." He said he asked the Payne County Sheriff's Office to file a report and provided the item's serial number.

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The episode led Cavett to a broader question.

"What's to keep someone from just saying, 'I want this,' and we'll just mark it junk, and then I'll just take it home," Cavett said.

Cavett said he's particularly concerned about computers, recalling that a previous commissioner he worked under required junked computers to be physically destroyed, run over or crushed, before disposal, specifically to eliminate any data recovery.

"I would really like to emphasize, I'm not alluding to anybody doing any foul play, but that's what I want to keep from happening," Cavett said.

The proposal

Cavett's plan would apply to any county entity that disposes of property, not just his own office. That includes offices such as the Payne County Sheriff's Office, the Payne County Jail and the Treasurer's Office, along with volunteer fire departments and other entities that use county-owned equipment.

"It's not just for entities," Cavett said. "It'd be for me. It'd be for everybody."

Under Cavett's proposal, before an item could be declared junk, it would first have to be listed on an online auction platform or entered into a public auction. If it sells, Cavett said, that proves it had value. If it doesn't sell, that confirms it was genuinely junk.

"If there's something being claimed as junk, we'll put it on Purple Wave or in the Pickens spring or fall auction," Cavett said. "If it doesn't sell, we'll know it was truly junk."

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Cavett compared the approach to a state auditor recommendation he said the county follows for confirming sole-source purchases: rather than assume only one vendor can supply something, put it out for bid, and if only one bidder responds, that confirms it.

"This would be kind of doing the same thing," Cavett said. "If it's truly junk, then nobody's going to buy it."

Cavett also floated a second safeguard.

"People do what's inspected, not what's expected," Cavett said. "Even if one of the commissioners would have to go and inspect something stating it's junk, that's another layer of protection for the county."

How disposal currently works

Under the county's current process, items must first be declared surplus by the Board of County Commissioners before they can be sold, traded or auctioned, Cavett said. Once approved as surplus, the entity that owns the item completes a disposal form stating how it was ultimately disposed of: sold, traded, auctioned or junked.

Cavett said his proposal wouldn't add much new paperwork to that process. It would instead limit when "junked" can be used as the outcome, by requiring an attempt to sell the item first.

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What's next

Cavett said he typically drafts policy proposals himself, as he's done with other recent county procedures, and shares the draft with the other two commissioners in advance of a public vote so they can weigh in before it comes up for a vote.

"The more eyes that are on it, the better," Cavett said. "I don't know everything, so others may see a different perspective."

Cavett gave no firm timeline for when a draft policy might come before the board, saying only that it's something commissioners will take up soon.

Why it matters for the Glencoe items

The Glencoe Fire Department equipment the board approved for disposal June 29 was processed under the county's current rules and is not affected by Cavett's proposal. The disposal included two pole pruners, three handheld radios, a portable gas detector, an air compressor and a security system, with a combined acquisition cost of about $8,589.

Cavett said the pole saws the county uses cost close to $1,000 new, and that even equipment with a mechanical failure can retain value. He said the road department recently bought two new pole saws at that price, and that if a saw's motor fails, the bar and chain may still be usable, either as spare parts or for resale.

"I just think there would be some value in some of the items that are being called junk," Cavett said.

Cavett also drew a distinction between hand tools and electronics, which the county sometimes junks, and heavy equipment such as graders, which he said the county never junks. Larger equipment is typically sold through an annual spring equipment auction in Elk City, returned to the dealer, or transferred to another county district.