Pulaski County Council members reluctantly approved a balance transfer request from Sheriff Mike Gayer to pay overtime for the county’s two new K-9 officers. Both just completed six weeks of training with the dogs . Gayer’s request to move $9,000 from the salary to the overtime line item in his budget prompted a spirited discussion about the military surplus vehicles and other supplies he’s been acquiring for the county for the past few years and the expense involved in going to get them. Under the county’s agreement with federal government, they have to keep the vehicles for at least two years before they can be sold. Gayer says two of the older trucks recently sold for $20,000 at a surplus auction. Half of the proceeds went into the county’s general fund, and the other half were put into an account established by the commissioners to maintain the fleet. Before approving Gayer’s transfer request, the council unanimously voted to require the sheriff to provide a quarterly report of military surplus items owned by the county and a list of what has been sold off. Gayer did note during the discussion that the heavy-duty trucks in particular were a tremendous asset to the county during this winter’s blizzard. He estimates they pulled at least 100 stuck motorists out of snowdrifts when commercial wrecker services couldn’t get there.
