Paving has paused because of Public Works truck fix needed
Polk County Public Works won’t be doing much paving in the coming weeks. The group’s distributor truck recently died, and unable to spray tar, County Public Works Director Michael Gravett is hoping the county will approve a new vehicle so they can get back to the roads.
“Our distributor truck that we use to spray tar went down,” Gravett said. “It limped through the rest of the year and at this point, it’s down. It’s not safe to operate anymore.”
The estimated costs Gravett brought place a new truck at $187,000. The prices are still preliminary, but some of the cheaper, used trucks would become obsolete shortly after the county acquired them. Others have missing or unreliable parts.
“We looked at some used ones as well,” Gravett explained. “The bid packet specifies new or used. Matthew’s has a used one. When we first started negotiation, it was a good truck. Then the fleet manager said the tank is unreliable, and the one he’d recommend us purchasing is two to three months from being taken out of service.”
The other option mentioned would be hiring a paving company to take care of the roads with their own equipment, but the job isn’t cheap. Gravett brought a quote saying it would cost at least $10,000 per week. Buying parts for the distributor truck is off the table because it itself has become obsolete in it’s old age.
“What I also did, to see about getting us through this year, was I reached out to several paving companies to see if they could supply us with a truck and a man to spray for us while we pay,” Gravett said. “Matthew’s gave me a number. $165 an hour, $4 a gallon per material. So, I put together some estimates and we’re looking at about $10,000 a week.”
Hiring someone could serve as a short term option since the purchase of a new truck still needs to pass through the finance committee and be formally approved by the commission during one of their upcoming monthly meetings.
However, this means the group still has a few weeks to select a vendor, truck, and amount they’re willing to spend for the item. The county commission meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 72 Clines Ingram Jackson Rd. beginning at 7 p.m. Work sessions are hosted the day before meetings at 5:15 p.m.