County gets only 1 bid for fuel as prices fluctuate
Staff writer
Only one company wanted to bid on fuel for Marion County recently — a sign of uneasy times.
The county will pay just 25 cents short of $30,000 for 8,000 gallons of fuel.
MFA Oil of Lincolnville will provide 3,500 gallons of a blended fuel at $4.4838/gallon, 1,000 gallons of diesel at $4.5985/gallon, and 3,500 gallons of unleaded at $2.7737 gallon for the county’s fleet of vehicles.
Commissioner Jonah Gehring said the county typically got three bids for fuel, but because of price volatility, few businesses seem to want to lock in to a price.
Fuel companies have told the county that “as soon as they give us a bid, the prices change,” he said.
Epp Service in Elbing and Cooperative Grain and Supply, which have bid in the past, did not submit bids this go-around.
“We definitely don’t want to bankrupt a local company,” Gehring said.
Commissioners unanimously accepted the bid because they essentially had no choice. The county must keep its fuel stations — situated around the county — full so public works employees, sheriff’s deputies, and other employees who drive county-owned vehicles can refuel when needed.