By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Pelham officials are looking to lower the city’s insurance and maintenance costs while raising money to possibly purchase new vehicles through an online vehicle auction.

The city is in the process of auctioning off 16 surplus city vehicles through an online auction being conducted by the Alabaster-based Pearce Associates auction company.

The current auction will run through Tuesday, July 23 at 7 p.m., and is the second such surplus auction conducted by Pelham this year. In February, the first Pelham surplus auction sold 21 surplus vehicles and raised $44,595 for the city’s general fund, according to Pelham Finance Manager Tom Seale.

“The reduction in the number of city owned vehicles reduces overall maintenance costs, decreases our insurance liability and lowers the city’s insurance expense,” Seale wrote in an email. “With the first online auction, we found the auction was opened nationwide. We actually sold several vehicles to an Atlanta company.

Pelham leaders said they are planning to purchase new pickup trucks for the city’s utility meter readers using funds generated through the current auction. To view the auction items, visit Soldalabama.com/index.php?subp=1&slb=1&pid=33166&cid=23366.