Road commission buys $184,000 grader
Published 11:50 pm Wednesday, July 15, 2009
By By NORMA LERNER / Vigilant/Argus
CASSOPOLIS – A new Caterpillar road grader is in the works for the Cass County Road Commission.
It has two joy sticks instead of a steering wheel to steer it, has diagnostic indicators and a global positioning capability tracking system. The grader comes with a price tag of about $184,000.
Manager Louis Csokasy said Thursday during a road commission meeting that three Caterpillar graders were purchased four years ago, and the company has a buy-back program. He said two of the graders can be exchanged for $140,000 and sell the oldest one for about $120,000.
There is money in the capital improvement fund to buy it. Csokasy said with the new purchase, the graders will be reduced from six to four. He said all of the graders will be less than eight years old.
"The new one is GPS capable. We can track it at any time."
In offering the motion for the buy-back deal and to purchase a new one not to exceed $200,000, Csokasy said the old one would sell for market price.
In a move to buy the grader, Commissioner Roger Bowser said one good thing is to spend the money received from the recent sale of 40 acres to the county at the Dr. T.K. Lawless Park. This was $84,000.
Vice Chairman Robert Powers warned there would probably be criticism from dealers such as John Deere, AIS and others for not seeking bids.
"We will probably get flak from dealers. We are not taking bids. Be prepared to take flak." He added, however, Caterpillar has done a good job over the years.
In the vote to purchase the grader, Powers did vote in favor of it, as did Bowser, Thomas Celie and Chairman LeRoy Krempec. Cliff Poehlman was absent.
Powers said after the meeting that the commission can spend up to $10,000 for purchases without taking bids.
He thought technically it would have to be bid out.
In other action, Chief Engineer Joseph Bellina III reported it is planned that the closed bridge over Christiana Creek in Ontwa Township will reopen this fall with a temporary fix.
He said a dive team was hired to look at the complete cavity where the bridge is eroded.
There is erosion at least five feet from either end. Three firms were contacted about evaluations and costs. "We hope to get the structure open this fall," he said. A new federally funded steel bridge would cost about $1 million, he noted.
Bellina also reported on the Mason Street bridge. He said a bigger pipe is needed there. He said larger equipment than what the road commission has would have to be hired to fix the bridge. He is working on cost estimates at this time with plans for repair this fall.
He said there are restrictions on the Sink Road bridge in Pokagon Township, and there are only two other bridges that are not restricted, one at Indian Lake Road and the bridge on M-60.
He said he is working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to get funding to upgrade the bridge.
He is also working with the water resources commissioner about high water on Williamsville Road in Calvin Township. The bridge there will be closed one day this week to get soil borings.
Road Superintendent Rick Janssen reported the four, 10-hour day workweek seems to be going well.
There was some rain, and there may have to be some extended time. "It has been a plus so far," he said. Bowser commended workers for doing a "great job" with the amount of labor available. There is about three times more paving this year, he said.
A special policy committee was named by Krempec headed by Powers to study all policies. Krempec said many need updating. In particular, the tree removal policy will be examined.
Csokasy said 190 service requests were received last month. This requires investigations, going to the scene and talking to people. He said the biggest complaints are about trees. He said many people call to have a tree removed in their yard if they don't want it there anymore. He said this has got to stop as $122,000 a year is spent on tree removal. He said there are three policies, who gets the wood, is the tree in the right-of-way, is it dangerous. A policy is not being followed about if the tree is dead, dying or dangerous. The policy will go to the new committee. A report is expected at the next meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 23.