GARDEN CITY — The town of Garden City was able to turn a Mississippi municipality’s mishap to its favor and purchase a like-new Kubota tractor.

Mayor Tim Eskew introduced the proposal to purchase the tractor, along with the included mower attachment, to the town council Monday, Oct. 16. City officials in Waveland, Miss., had purchased the tractor from the manufacturer to address a handful of mowing projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. When they did not receive the tractor in time, they were under the impression they had cancelled the order until it was recently delivered. Because the projects had already been completed, the Kubota has roughly eight and a half hours of use.

Eskew said the lowest offer officials in Waveland were willing to accept was $95,000, but after reaching out to local sales reps he had learned the cost to purchase the same model with an identical attachment would be roughly $140,000. Eskew said he has also secured a $1,000 transportation fee.

Councilmembers Scott Arnold and Butch Bradford originally expressed a sense of hesitancy to approving such a significant purchase with Arnold asking for justification as to why the purchase was needed and Bradford asking about the source of funding. Eskew said while the town does have equipment it uses for mowing currently, the new tractor would be able to significantly reduce the time to complete tasks and increase the lifespan of in-use equipment. He also said the Kubota would be a much safer option for maintaining the steep hillsides at the town’s River Park site than the mini excavator currently being used.

Town Clerk Amy Black said the current budget includes a $25,000 line item for new equipment purchases — the largest allowance in her recollection — which was proposed to be used to provide a down payment for the purchase. Instead of providing a down payment, Bradford motioned to finance the entire purchase in order to leave the budgeted amount in tact as a contingency fund if any future purchases arose in the future.

The town’s attorney asked to look over the purchase agreement to ensure the legality of the purchase which the council unanimously approved contingent on his findings.

In other business the town:

• Approved the surplussed sale of a 1991 Ford Econoline E-350 Ambulance.
• Announced the Garden City Town Hall would be closed Wednesday, Nov. 8 for a certified government accounting technology class and Thursday, Nov. 9 in observance of Veterans Day.