Fuel costs questioned

A number of bills were temporarily pulled for explanation at last Wednesday’s regular meeting of Moorcroft’s council, requiring clarification from department heads. Among others discussed, Councilman Bob Stewart had concerns about the February fuel invoice from the Public Works Department; he addressed the question to department director Cory Allison.

“Why are we spending so much on gas, especially on one vehicle?” Stewart asked Allison directly. “I can see on some of them, the reason [is] because of the snow use and everything, but, Cory, on your pickup, you spent $762.44…Figuring out the mileage that you put in, you’re putting a lot of gallons of gasoline in that pickup.”

“If we keep figuring out how much our gas is costing – $762 for a month, that’s a lot of taxpayer money for something I don’t think should be used for personal and to take home.”

Mayor Ben Glenn interrupted to assure the councilman that the vehicle is not driven for personal use, but Stewart responded, “It is when you take it home.”

Stewart had made copies of the fuel consumption and work for which other town maintenance equipment was used for the month and further questioned the department head. This examination included two snow-blowers, which have been used to clear the MTC area every day for the last two weeks, according to Allison, as well as the other used around the town hall.

“They run for hours every morning,” he said.

The councilman retorted that he cleans, “the whole Tongue River, the sidewalks and people’s driveways and [had] never used that much gasoline in my snow-blower” (30 gallons). He suggested that something “fishy might be going on”.

With Allison answering each enquiry posed and no evidence to the contrary, the councilman joined his fellows and approved the February Bill List.