Berlin, Vermont - May 6, 2011
It's a crowded stockpile of surplus state vehicles and equipment at the VTrans facility on the Barre-Montpelier Road in Berlin, but after this weekend the parking lot will be vacant.
"Everything that we have here will leave the parking lot. This is an absolute auction. There are no reserves and every piece of equipment here is going to go to the highest bidder," said Ed Von Turkovich of Vt. Government Business Services.
Many local towns and communities take advantage of state surplus auctions to get good prices on necessary equipment.
"This equipment is going to get a chance to get back into the hands of Vermont communities, into the hands of contractors, the public, who could use this equipment," Von Turkovich said.
"The economy being hard, and the park budget is tight and cut a couple times in the past couple years, it's been... it's a real help," said Geoff Beyer, the director of Montpelier Parks.
The auction is performed the old-fashioned way.
"Well this is a physical auction," Von Turkovich said. "It's a quintessential type of event for Vermont. You know we're known for our auctions in Vermont, whether it's antiques or otherwise."
But using the classic auction method might be a thing of the past. And this particular auction could be the last of its kind. The state is strongly considering holding their future surplus auctions online rather than in person. While some may miss the nostalgia of a physical auction, the state feels that holding the auctions online simply makes more sense.
"You can see that getting all the equipment here, inventorying it here and getting it ready for use makes it very labor intensive," Von Turkovich said.
The state plans on setting up an auction website. As vehicles and equipment become available, they will be posted and sold online.
"We'll keep an eye on it, definitely, for sure, especially as we need different kinds of vehicles," Beyer said.
The eBay for Vermont State surplus vehicles and equipment.
The auction is open to the general public. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Saturday. The auction begins at 10 a.m.
Click here for more on the auction.
Ian Oliver - WCAX News
