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Because
of the expensive upkeep and
liability insurance on the helicopters,
Belew said, selling or transferring
them will be better for the
county. “None of these
helicopters have been flown
in 2-½ years,”
Belew said.
Money
from the sale of the copters
“will be spent more effectively
and efficiently for the citizens
of Henry County” by being
directed to drug control efforts,
he said, than being used for
helicopter upkeep.
Henry
County “is completely
out of the helicopter business,”
Belew said, “but we won’t
be without air support. The
Tennessee Highway Patrol is
at our beck and call if we need
them for air support and that’s
at no cost to the taxpayers.
And we have two pilots on contract
here at the airport if we need
them.”
The
remaining two copters—1971
and 1972 OH58s—will be
transferred to another agency,
Belew said. “Neither of
those are eligible for sale,
as I said,” he said.
Lance
Thoreson, vice-president of
sales for Dakota Air Parts,
thanked Belew and the sheriff
department “for opening
the doors” for the sale.
“We appreciate the way
you worked with us on this.”
Dakota
buys and sells military-type
aviation parts, Thoreson said.
Director
of CID Damon Lowe, headed up
the process to sell the copters
for the sheriff department,
and said, “It was a long
process; we just completed it
last Friday and we started it
in October of 2006.”
Belew
complimented Lowe on his efforts.
“It took a lot of hours,
a lot of tedious paperwork,
a lot of emails back and forth
with the Department of Defense,”
he said.
“The
whole process was tedious,”
Belew said, “but it was
worth the $221,000.”
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