Ewing online auction gains CBS attention

[The Times]

Ewing online auction gains CBS attention
Thursday, April 09, 2009
BY JAMES QUEALLY
Special to the Times
EWING -- Jack Ball and the township are ready for their close-up.

The township's auction of surplus municipal equipment on govdeals.com caught the eye of CBS News reporter Richard J. Schlesinger, who visited town hall to interview the mayor Tuesday.

"It's a creative way to show off your surplus property," said Ball. "Maybe Ewing is going to set the pace and other towns will follow."

Last year the township raked in $245,310 from auctioning off what Ball called "big ticket items," including an $80,000 road grater and a $74,150 excavator. Schlesinger came across the Ewing auctions, which wrapped up yesterday, while researching for a larger story about small towns finding new ways to raise money in the face of a down economy.

"We went on the site and looked at various things that were for sale," Schlesinger said. "It was the assortment of things (Ewing) had for sale that I found interesting, so we decided to take the drive."

Ewing was the first shoot CBS had scheduled for the story, which Schlesinger believes will run sometime in the next few weeks.

"I hope it will be in the next couple of weeks or this month or so but it's hard to say," he said. "Every time we expect things to air, somebody sees Elvis or something and it's hard to get re-scheduled."

Ball believes the far reach of the online auction is what makes it so attractive to buyers. At the end of this year's two-week auction, Ewing managed to sell a fire truck to a fire company in Gerogia.

"You just can't duplicate what you get with the online auction with an in-person auction," said Ball, adding that this year's auction netted the township about $20,000. "It's proven to be a winner for Ewing. As far as I'm concerned every dollar that we can bring in to the township coiffeurs is a good thing. You look at last year with over $200,000, that's about 1.4 cents on the tax rate if you want to think in terms of dollars."

And while the township auction is leaving a good impression on Ewing, it seems Ball left a good impression on the staff from CBS as well.

"He was very open and hospitable. I found him very pleasant," said Schlesinger. "Some people are easier to interview than others and he was fairly easy to interview."

http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1239249927112720.xml&coll=5

[Guest]

Does Cranbury take advantage of govdeals.com? We are replacing police cars; what happens to the old unused cars and trucks?

[neighbor]

What does Cranbury have in the 'attic' that we could auction? Even if profits aren't factored into the annual budget, it is a great way to fund a 'want' vs a need.

[publius]

How about that new ballfield by the school?
Maybe, someone can get some use out of it.