City Sending Equipment to Haiti?

The City of Savannah is looking at a plan that would send tens of thousands of dollars worth of surplus trucks and a bulldozer to our sister city in Haiti. The shipping alone will cost $26 Thousand.
 
Savannah’s sister city in Haiti is asking for a big favor. In a letter to the Mayor and Aldermen, the Mayor of the Haitian city of Saint Marc says “Dump Trucks, Trucks, Backhoes/Front end Loaders, Flatbed Trucks and Computers are desperately needed!” He adds the “respectful request that you would ship any equipment from Savannah to Saint Marc at your earliest convenience.”
 
In a memo to Savannah leaders, City Manager Michael Brown says “The city has five surplus vehicles that could be donated to St. Marc for their use.” He goes on to list 2 flatbed trucks, 1 dump truck, 1 pickup and 1 front end loader.

After a visit to St. Marc, Brown told his staff that the Haitian town has no large equipment at all. "When they do a drainage project, they dig the whole thing with shovels." according to spokesman Bret Bell.
 
Usually when the City of Savannah is done with a vehicle, it’s sold as surplus. Lately they’ve been doing that on an EBay like website designed just for used city and county equipment.
 
They don’t fetch much mainly because the city tries to squeeze every ounce of use out of what they have before they spend tax money to buy new. Even at the bargain basement prices, the sale of surplus equipment means tens of thousands of dollars returned to the city each year.
 
In this case, Assistant to the City Manager Sean Brandon says the equipment slotted for Haiti could bring in $30 to $50 thousand if it sold at auction. Brandon says the city would also pay for shipping the vehicles costing an additional $25 thousand. He adds that this is not the first time one of the Sister Cities has asked for such a favor but if City Council approves the move it will be the first time Savannah has answered "yes".
 
City Council meets at 2pm Thursday at City Hall at the North end of Bull Street.
 
Also on the agenda:
 
A property owner is requesting to annex more than 7,000 acres into the city limits. If approved it will be the largest single annexation and will mean the city has grown by more than 20 thousand acres in the past 6 years.
 
The Liberty City Neighborhood is slated to get half a million dollars for a new park and lake behind their Community Center on Mills B. Lane Blvd.