Wal-Mart will sell fuel to the county for its emergency vehicles if it can't be purchased elsewhere. The store will choose the limit for sales.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published December 9, 2003
Next time a hurricane or a torrential rain tears across Hernando County, leaving flooding and disaster in its wake, the county will have a new partner in fueling some of its recovery efforts: Wal-Mart.
The county is about to enter an unusual and interesting contract with the world's largest retailer, which has agreed to sell the county diesel gasoline to supplement fuel reserves if a disaster hits.
The county has a number of informal "understandings" with businesses to help provide emergency assistance like food and supplies during a disaster, said purchasing department director James Gantt.
But this written agreement with Wal-Mart, which is on the consent agenda of today's county commissioners meeting, may just be the first time the Bentonville, Ark., company has agreed to guarantee a fuel sale to a government agency as disaster relief.
The agreement signifies another step toward a more conciliatory relationship between the county and Wal-Mart, which have fought in the past over county property taxes and traded strong words over new stores. Specifically, there was tension over a supercenter built in Spring Hill on U.S. 19 and a Sam's Club on State Road 50, which is scheduled to open in January. "We're just glad to be of service to the county," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Webber, who could not ascertain if Wal-Mart has ever entered into a similar agreement with another local government.
The agreement allows the county to call upon Wal-Mart if the county has first made "every reasonable attempt" to purchase fuel from local sources.
The deal came about after emergency management director Thomas Leto reviewed the county's disaster assistance plans and concluded that the county didn't have much in the way of fuel supplies on the east side of the county.
The county's closest fuel depot to the east side is located on Wiscon Road in Brooksville and currently serves the utilities department.
During a disaster recovery, the county would need to fuel large diesel motor trucks, bulldozers and debris-clearing vehicles. The county has previously counted on trucking fuel into the area, if fuel became problematic during a recovery.
"We were looking at it as a backup contingency plan," Leto said. "They had the best resources and it's in their best interest, as well as ours, to help Hernando stand back on its feet."
Wal-Mart would provide the diesel fuel from its distribution center on Kettering Road, the company's largest distribution center in the state.
Wal-Mart has agreed to sell the county either up to 2,000 gallons a week (enough to fuel about 10 trucks) or an amount that would not "impede Wal-Mart operations" - an amount Wal-Mart would ultimately decide.
Neither Gantt nor Leto could guess how much diesel fuel the county could buy from Wal-Mart before it interfered with the company's operations.
The fuel rate charged to the county would be the same price at which Wal-Mart had purchased the fuel from its own supplier, according to the agreement.
