A new tractor purchased by Morven Mayor Houston Pratt has been the point of some contention among the Town Council. During a special meeting on Thursday, the council voted unanimously to return the tractor to Quality Equipment Co., formerly Martin Brothers Equipment Co.
The mayor purchased the tractor for $30,100 on June 29, saying he was unaware that the Town Council needed to approve the purchase first. Pratt also said during the council’s regular meeting on Aug. 1 that he had been given permission to purchase the tractor in September 2013. However, more than a full fiscal year passed between the time of the council’s original vote and the actual purchase.
Pratt maintained that he had done nothing wrong. “We bought a truck before, but there are new laws now and something called a pre-audit certification,” he said. “I didn’t know about the pre-audit.”
Pratt also learned in the Aug. 1 closed session that he should have had at least three bids in order to spend $30,000 or more.
“It is what it is,” he said earlier this month. “You do the thing the town says to do and find out the laws have changed.”
Neither Mayor Pratt nor Town Clerk Shemetra Melton were present for the special meeting on Thursday. Mayor Pro Tem Ben Atkinson was also absent, so the council appointed Councilman Theodore Carr to serve as chairman for the meeting. Deputy Clerk Carolyn Rosebud acted as clerk in Melton’s absence.
“I think we should do a brief statement that the tractor was not purchased properly,” Carr said.
The council voted unanimously on a motion to that effect, adding that the tractor should be returned.
“The next thing is,” Councilwoman Marjorie Cole said, “when is it going to be returned?”
Cole said the tractor should be returned by the end of the day on Friday, but Councilmen James Cohen and Timmy Watkins said they should talk with Quality Equipment to see when it would fit their schedule.
“We should say it will be returned whenever it’s feasible for them,” Watkins said.
October Fest OK’d
The only other item on the agenda for the special meeting was a discussion on Morven’s annual October Fest.
“We should have our board take part in all the committees involved in the festival,” Cole said.
Councilman Cohen volunteered to serve as chairperson for the festival.
“We need to start meeting next week,” Cole said. “We need to get in touch with DOT about closing the street.”
She added that a letter requesting the street closure should be sent no later than Wednesday.
After a brief discussion of whether or not vendor forms and other information on the festival should be available at Town Hall, Cole volunteered to serve as a contact person for all the needed information.
More information on the October Fest will be released as it becomes available.