Help with county roads

A local road crew will soon be getting a new weapon in the battle against icy county roads.
The transfer of $5,600 will fund the purchase of a tank unit that will be used by the Jay County Highway Department to spread liquid calcium chloride on county roads and intersections prior to snow and ice events.
“We put this down before it hits,” Ken Wellman, superintendent of the department, told the Jay County Council Wednesday.
The liquid, which could be used on stretches of road or only at intersections, prevents snow from packing and forming a seal with the road surface, making it easier to clear with plows. It is effective down to 30 below zero, compared to salt, which does not have an effect at temperatures below 12 degrees.
The liquid costs about 92 cents per gallon, and Wellman said Wednesday it can be spread at a rate of 19 gallons per lane mile.
The city of Portland uses similar equipment to spread a beet juice-based solution on city streets and intersections.
Wellman said he plans to communicate with Portland Street Department Superintendent Jeff Harker about the effectiveness and cost of the products used by each of their departments.
Funds for the purchase will come from an equipment rental line item in the highway department budget.
The department’s performance in clearing county roads was put into question by school officials in February, but council president Mike Leonhard and councilman Dan Orr praised efforts of county crews during a particularly cold and icy winter.
“All our guys go out and work as hard as they can,” Wellman said.
On another highway department matter, the council gave Wellman permission to check on costs for a used skid loader the department could use to move material at the county highway garage and on job sites.
Wellman estimated the machine, which he would like to have a bucket and forks, could be purchased for between $15,000 and $20,000.
He would pay for the purchase by transferring funds from the equipment rental line item.
The council asked Wellman to report back on prices and specifications prior to making a purchase.
Also Wednesday, council members Bob Vance, Ted Champ, Marilyn Coleman, Gary Theurer, Mike Rockwell, Orr and Leonhard approved a $750,000 loan from the county’s rainy day fund to the county general fund. The money will be re-paid when the county receives property tax funds in June.
Similar loans have been made in the past, as the county pays a large amount of annual bills in the first two months of a new year, creating a cash flow issue.
The county’s rainy day fund had a balance of $2.57 million before the loan funds were taken out.
In other business, council members:
•Approved several additional appropriations in the budget of Jay Circuit Court. Amounts of $782 and $1,114 will pay for replacement and repairs on court computers, while $7,500 was appropriated into a line item for court transcripts.
Judge Brian Hutchison said an electrical surge related to a downtown Portland fire in early February damaged or destroyed most of his office’s computers. He said the bills for transcripts related to several high-profile cases in 2010 have come due this year. “We believe $7,500 should take us through the end of the year,” Hutchison said.
•Allowed a total of $3,423 in revenue from requests for property sales disclosure information through the Jay County Assessor’s office to be placed in a line item in the assessor’s budget.
•Voted to use $40,000 from the rainy day fund to pay Waggoner Irwin Scheele & Associates for upcoming revisions on the county’s plan governing wages and job descriptions.[[In-content Ad]]