Hempfield officials hire auctioneer to sell dozens of surplus items

An auctioneer will help Hempfield unload 55 pieces of surplus equipment under a proposal approved by the township supervisors.

The township will work with Anderson Auctioneers for an online auction that likely will be held in September or October, according to Austin Erhard, director of public works.

“They will handle cataloging all of the items that have been identified, collecting all of the pertinent information, setting up that online auction, running it, collecting the money afterward and then releasing those items to prospective buyers,” Erhard told supervisors last week.

The township typically uses Municibid, an online auction site that works with governments and communities across the country. Municibid is handy to unload a couple pieces of surplus equipment, Erhard said, but it can be time intensive for township staff to gather and post information about the item and then collect the payment.

In this instance, with so many items to get rid of, he said opting for a professional auctioneer who has worked with local communities is a better choice.

“It takes a lot of that work out of the staff’s hands for an auction of this size,” he said.

The auction inventory list, compiled by the township’s operations manager, includes items mostly from the parks and public works departments — trucks, a cash register, three crock pots, toolboxes, tents and seven computer monitors, among other things. Many of the items are in working condition.

Anderson Auctioneers will keep 10% of the sale price, township manager Aaron Siko said.

“It’s a big auction; there’s a lot of surplus equipment there that we usually just don’t have,” he said. “Municibid’s a great tool for us and, obviously, gives us a lot of reach, but an auctioneer gives us additional reach.”

Supervisor Doug Weimer said the township used to do an auction every couple years when inventory built up, but there hasn’t been one in recent years.

The proceeds from the auction can be put toward new purchases, he said.