By James B. Bartle

It appears the City of Sullivan will not consider selling their electric department to a private company after the council al but shot down a proposal to seek bids to determine the value of the city electric department/service.
The City of Sullivan is facing a search for a new wholesale electric supplier as Sho-Me Power, the present electric supplier, has informed the city it would not continue it’s electric service past 2013 from coal fired energy. The company has indicated it may do a short term agreement for gas fueled electric supplies, which are reportedly at a higher rate.
During the Tuesday night, Feb. 16, meeting of the Sullivan City Council the debate on the electric service and the city options raged on.
Sullivan City Administrator Mark Falloon reported to the council that as directed looked into obtaining a price quote for an appraisal on the value of the city electric department from the firm of Burn’s and McDonnell with the rough estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. The appraisal would take about four to six months to complete.
Alderman Jarrett Dace, who has been vocal about the city being proactive and not reactive, reminded the council that Sho-Me has put the city on notice and they have three years to find an alternative electric supply and still felt the city should find out what the value of the electric department is leaving all options open.
Both Falloon and City Attorney Matt Schroeder felt that if the city was going to consider the option of selling it needed to move quickly on this matter.
Mayor J.T. Hardy commented that the city has not had any inquiries into selling the electric department and the city should proceed with caution and not get into something long term that they may not want.
Alderman Tom Leasor reported that he received a phone call from a city resident who stated that Sullivan had great service with their electric department and didn’t mind if he had to pay a little more on his utility bill to keep that service here.
Administrator Falloon reported to the council that he and Electric Commissioner Joe Thurmond were scheduled to meet with the other Sho-Me Power cities whose contracts are ending to discuss the options available.
The council briefly discussed the possible appraisal study and their general consensus was that they did not want to spend $15,000 to $20,000 of unbudgeted money for an appraisal, thus it appears they are not interested in the option of selling at this point.