FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to award a contract to buy three new Sheriff’s Department vehicles to Farmington Ford, provided they meet the county’s specifications.

Commission Chairman Gary McGrane of Jay said he could not believe how close the bids were.

“I would love to go with Farmington Ford,” he said as they figured out the combined bid prices. He said he has been waiting for an opportunity to keep business local.

According to McGrane’s calculations Farmington Ford’s combined bid was for $62,389.13 and Quirk’s was for $62,557.

If the vehicles meet the specifications, then the county would get three 2011 vehicles, a Ford Taurus, Expedition and Explorer.

Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon asked why the Sheriff’s Department didn’t want a second Explorer instead of an Expedition, which he estimated would be a $3,000 difference.

The additional money is well spent, Deputy Chief Ray Meldrum said. The Expeditions have less maintenance and a police dog’s cage they already have will fit into it.

Commissioners also gave Meldrum permission to advertise the used vehicles for sale outright. The minimum bid accepted would be what would have been given for the trade-ins. Meldrum has done this for the last few years and the county has taken advantage of the higher sales prices over what the trade-ins would have brought. In case the bids are less than the trade-in values, then the vehicle would be traded.

In other business, commissioners also voted to spend up to $1,400 to send out 4,000 brochures explaining the $4.46 million bond question addressing county buildings. The vote is Tuesday, Nov. 2. Voters in the county will decide if they want to have the county buy another building and renovate it to house government operations and to build an addition to the Sheriff’s Department to ease space, security and environmental problems.

One brochure per household will be sent by bulk mailing, consultant John Cleveland said. To do a bulk mailing there needs to be a minimum of 200 residences per zip code, he said.

The county has been holding public hearings and informational meetings on the projects, but it is difficult to get many people there, Cleveland said.

The brochures will be another way to disperse the information, he said.

“I think it is critical to get the information out,” McGrane said.

Commissioners also agreed to go to have W.S. Cole Environmental do an air-quality assessment of the Church Street Building the county proposes to buy if the November vote is positive. The cost is $2,500.

The company’s assessment recommended an evaluation be done to determine the air quality of the building, McGrane said.

It had been a service station and printing business years ago. There were underground fuel tanks that were removed at least 25 years ago and the Department of Environmental Protection was involved, he said.

Cleveland pointed out that the air quality will change once the building is renovated, including moving the furnace to the basement of a new, two-story addition proposed as part of the project.

McGrane and other commissioners agreed to have the test done for the safety and health of employees and to be fair to taxpayers to make sure they are getting a safe building.

County custodian Greg Roux agreed. He also pointed out that the air quality would be the worst now because the main building has been closed up for a while pending the outcome of the vote.

dperry@sunjournal.com