County department leaders looked to commissioners on Tuesday for a little guidance about equipment purchases and maintenance.
The most expensive requests are likely to come from the road and bridge department.
Director Mark Griffith asked how to handle “surprise deals” after he stumbled across a used 30-ton dump truck for sale that would be a good addition to the quarry. He doesn’t really need it right now but he could see a need in the future.
The vehicle is similar to a dump truck the county rented for a couple months earlier this year to move rock in preparation for a new cell at the landfill. It costs about $15,000 per month to rent.
Having one would pay for itself, Griffith said. It’s larger than the county’s current dump trucks and designed to be able to haul rock.
“Our trucks are getting worn out. The newest one we have is a 1999 model,” he told commissioners.
He wasn’t sure how to pursue the matter and if he needed to seek bids in such a situation. Commissioners were in favor of pursuing the truck. They said he could go through the bid process under the assumption no one locally would offer a better deal, if anyone even had such a vehicle to sell.
Griffith also tossed out a suggestion about buying another rock crushing machine. A used rock crusher likely would cost up to $300,000.
The county purchased a new rock crusher in 2018 for a price tag of $1 million, but it was plagued by a need for frequent repairs that kept it unusable for much of its time with the county.
The crusher is running well now, Griffith said. The only issue is the difficulty in crushing different types of rock.
The crushing machine can produce different sizes of rock, including both road rock and smaller chips for the chip seal process. But it’s difficult and time-consuming to switch screens to produce the different sizes.
Griffith expects crews would use one crusher to create rock suitable for gravel roads, then put that into the other crusher to create small chips for the chip seal process.
“I’m looking at secondary crushers so we can start making chips because next year, we’re going to have a lot of projects that are going to involve a lot of chips,” Griffith said.
“The secondary, even though it’s a lot of money, makes sense as far as efficiency. You’d be making chips and rock rock as much as we’d want,” Commissioner Jerry Daniels said. “Keep shopping.”
RON HOLMAN, maintenance director, said he’s received a proposal from Design Mechanical to enter a service agreement for the county’s heating and air conditioning needs.
Currently, the county works with the company in a pay-as-you-go arrangement for repairs and maintenance. Holman wasn’t sure how often the company is called to work on county equipment, but said it happens multiple times a year.
