The Sanatoga Post

The "Firefighter" is being offered for sale this month on Municibid, the municipal auction website operated by former Sanatoga resident Greg Berry

POTTSTOWN PA – It’s common for governments across the country to offer vehicles like used police cars, dump trucks and even a limousine or two for sale on Municibid, the auction bidding website for municipalities operated from Pottstown by former Sanatoga resident Greg Berry. But one item available this month, even Berry concedes, is a whole ‘nother form of transportation.

The city of Boston MA, he said Tuesday (Jan. 17, 2012), is using Municibid to auction off “the Firefighter, a 72-foot, 1,050-horsepower fireboat that has patrolled the waters of Boston Harbor since 1972.” Berry reported that the Boston Fire Department decommissioned the 40-year-old fireboat and replaced it with a more modern vessel last September.

“We got a brand-new fireboat and had a formal dedication,” fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald told Berry for this month’s Municibid newsletter. “The boat we had served the city since 1972, so the question was how to dispose of it.”

The answer, Berry happily adds, is his company, headquartered at 1029 N. Washington St., Pottstown PA. A recent Boston Magazine article about the boat described Municibid as “like an eBay for surplus government equipment, except that it doesn’t charge a seller fee.” Municibid makes its money by collecting a fee – 5 percent of the final sale price – from winning bidders.

The 125-ton Firefighter “has the potential to be converted to a specialized work boat or yacht,” according to an assessment by marine surveyor Joseph W. Lombardi. The auction continues through Jan. 30 (Monday) until 1 p.m.; see it online here, along with 20 different photos of the boat. Bidding starts at $10,000.

Boston Magazine reporter Courtney Hollands offers this caution, though: “You may want to check with your local marina about slip availability before throwing your (captain’s) hat in the ring.”

Berry is a former member of Pottstown borough council, and once lived with his family on North Sanatoga Road in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township. Municibid has grown over several years from a primarily Pennsylvania enterprise to one with thousands of participating municipal and other government agencies nationwide.

Photo from Municibid

Greg Berry

PHILADELPHIA PA – One of the Philadelphia region’s most watched local television news shows will feature an interview with a former Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township resident next Wednesday (May 11, 2011) during its 11 p.m. broadcast.

Greg Berry, the chief executive officer of Municibid – a company that provides services for the online auction of surplus property owned by municipal governments and agencies – recently talked about his firm with WPVI-TV Channel 6 reporter Amy Buchman for a segment in her continuing “Saving with 6ABC” stories.

Municibid’s monthly newsletter, published Wednesday (May 4), reports Buchman and a film crew showed up at a Montgomery County location to chat with not only Berry but county officials as well. The county currently is using Municibid to auction off nearly 100 lots of technology-related items.

Berry formerly lived on North Sanatoga Road.

Greg Berry

POTTSTOWN PA – Municibid, a company that provides services for the online auction of surplus property owned by municipal governments and agencies, and which was founded by former Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township resident Greg Berry, has been selected to serve the needs of the cities of Philadelphia and Boston, Berry announced Wednesday (March 2, 2011).

Municibid emerged the winner of both cities’ future auction business, following what Berry said was a “competitive proposal process” completed during the past two weeks. “Both cited ease of use, demonstrated results and no cost as determining factors,” he reported. Boston, which used Municibid in a trial program, agreed to a three-year contract; Philadelphia’s use of the company will begin in April.

Other government agencies that recently joined Municibid include the borough of Hatboro PA,  the city of Westfield MA, East Lansdowne PA, the Shamokin PA Area School District, the towns of Bourne and Stoneham MA, the Upper Montgomery PA Joint Authority, and Upper Providence (PA) Township.

Photo form Fiscal Responsibility Pottstown

SANATOGA PA – As the year winds down, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township has been doing a little house-cleaning. Two different and unrelated policy changes, unanimously adopted Nov. 18 (2010) by the Board of Commissioners, are intended to streamline the way the municipal government works, township solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway explained.

It's not so much a deep sweep, as it is a bit of "tidying up."

The first creates a policy governing board committees; the second sets procedures dealing with the sale of township equipment and other property. Sound boring? Well, they likely won’t bring visitors charging to the municipal building in protest, but they may actually shave a few minutes off the length of commissioners’ meetings.

The committee policy, Holloway said, officially recognizes the existence of only two board standing committees: finance (which includes the annual budget), and police. The others to which a board chairman made annual appointments – highway, regional planning, recreation, council of governments, pension, economic development, trash, buildings, and fire – “really had no authority to make recommendations to the board for actions,” according to Holloway.

With a stroke of a pen, held by board President Jonathan Spadt and applied to the policy – the unnecessary committees were history.

Board presidents still have power to make “ad hoc conference groups for the purposes of information gathering” on almost any topic, Holloway said; “they simply won’t have the same duties” or stature as before.

The equipment procedure acknowledges that many no longer used or desired items, originally purchased by the government with public funds, now are often disposed of in what Holloway called “very effective” online auctions and bidding forums. One such service, Municibid, was started by former Lower Pottsgrove resident Greg Berry and is used by government agencies in several states.

Some items sold, however, are for sums substantially less than $1,000; in a few cases, for less than $10. Having commissioners vote to ratify every such sale, as they have in the past, doesn’t make much sense, the solicitor noted.

The new procedure allows township staff to accept and approve bids of less than $1,000 for the sale of used equipment, so long as they have evidence that the selected bid (usually the highest) is within or exceeds a documented range of value. Bid awards of more than $1,000 must still be presented to commissioners for approval.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Nov. 18):

• As Year Ends, Lower Pottsgrove Does A Little Cleaning
• No Change In Town’s 2011 Base Tax Rate, But Bills To Rise Slightly
• Legal Fight Shapes Up Over Signs In Lower Pottsgrove
• Township Thanks Dailey For 23 Years Of Volunteer Service
• ‘No Parking’ Zone Approved On North Adams Street

Photo from Clipart.com

Happy to take a bidder's money.

SANATOGA PA – We’ll take the money. Happily.

That, in essence, was Lower Pottsgrove‘s response last week to a private bidder who is willing pay $3,508 – far more than the anticipated value – to buy a former township police vehicle.

The township Board of Commissioners on Thursday (July 23, 2009) approved a private firm’s offer on Municibid, an national auction website created specifically for municipalities and other public entities, to buy a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria previously used by Lower Pottsgrove’s Police Department as a patrol cruiser. It had been removed from service due to age and mileage.

“That’s twice what it’s worth,” Commissioner Jonathan Spadt said of the bid. “I say we grab it and run,” board President Bruce Foltz agreed. Board members unanimously accepted the offer during their second monthly meeting in the municipal building on Buchert Road.

Municibid is one of several businesses formed and operated by former North Sanatoga Road resident Greg Berry.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 23):

• No Need To Ask Them Twice
• Township Says No To Sunnybrook Grant, Citing Risks
• Commissioners Cancel Next Meeting

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

Greg Berry, and the PA Township News.

LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – Former North Sanatoga Road resident Greg Berry, now a oft-quoted member of Pottstown (PA) Borough Council and the owner of Pottstown-based PointSolve Inc., is making news this month with another firm he’s founded, Municibid.com.

Berry and Municibid, an online auction site used by municipal governments and agencies to sell unwanted equipment, are featured in the Feb. 2009 edition of PA Township News, the monthly magazine of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.

The PA Township News article, titled “Internet Auctions Increase Revenue, Save Townships Money by Creating True Competition,” describes how Municibid provides online auction services and e-mail updates to roughly 15,000 paying subscribers and the general public. Magazine Associate Editor Brenda Wilt describes online sites like Municibid and its competitors as “a cost-effective way for townships to purchase used vehicles and equipment” as well.

Send this page to a friend.
Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail.