An auction of the city’s used vehicles has been postponed to Wednesday, Sept. 18.
The auction was supposed to take place on Wednesday, Aug. 29, but disputes over the vehicles’ titles led to postponement.
“There was a serious issue with titles to all the equipment, being that it’s so old, outdated and unused,” said city engineer Joe Cunha, who is overseeing the auction process.
The auction features mostly police and department of public works [DPW] equipment that the city no longer uses. Some of the DPW equipment was given to the city by a gas company, which led to the title dispute.
The auction will feature nine police vehicles, an ambulance, some old street sweepers and some pick-up trucks and DPW equipment. The oldest vehicle is from the late 1980s.
Most of the equipment has gone unused for at least the six months Cunha has been employed by the city, he said.
“We have very little [storage] space and it’s time to get new vehicles, which will be the next challenge,” Cunha said.
The city stands to make $8,000 to $14,000 on the auction, Cunha estimated. Those who purchase the vehicles will likely rehabilitate them or scrap them for parts.
City Manager Terence Reidy has said the auctioning of the vehicles could lead to rehabilitation of the transportation parking lot. The cars and trucks currently occupy the rear of the lot.
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[An earlier version of this article misstated the date of the auction.]
