No increase in oil costs (4/6/04)

For the first time in several years, the price paid for petroleum products used to chip-and-seal and pave county roads didn’t increase.

Jay County Commissioners opened bids for emulsion oil, asphalt mix and equipment rental Monday, with the low bid for the emulsion, or liquid used to bind the stone together on chip-and-seal roads, coming in at about 63 cents per gallon — the same as the 2003 price.

That apparent low bid was submitted by Terry Materials of Hamilton, Ohio.

A total of six bids were received to supply emulsion oil, with just one bidder each for asphalt materials (Meshberger Bros. Stone Corp.) and equipment rental (LICA Construction Corp.).

The commissioners, as has been their practice over the past several years, tabled action on the bids pending a review by Jay County Highway Department superintendent Ken Wellman and county engineer Dan Watson.

All eligible bids are normally accepted in case the low bidder has a supply problem.

Wellman said that he was pleased, but not necessarily surprised, with no increase in the price of emulsion.

Wellman said that he plans to add a single layer of chip-and-seal material to about 100 miles of road as part of this summer’s maintenance program.

But he said the amount of stone roads to be converted to chip-and-seal will be “minimal” because there are several of those roads that need to be reconstructed.

The first road on the conversion list will likely be county road 200 West, running south from Mt. Pleasant Road.

Also submitting bids for emulsion were Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, Richmond; Terry Materials, Hamilton, Ohio; Bituminous Products Company, Toledo, Ohio; Koch Materials of Warsaw and Bit-Mat Products, South Bend.

Meshberger’s prices for most types of asphalt, including hot mix binder No. 9, were up $2 a ton ($24.50 this year, up from $22.50 in 2003).

Also Monday, Commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer and Mike Leonhard made Wellman the purchasing agent for a high-pressure (3,500 pounds per square inch) heated power washer for use at the highway garage.

Wellman said the lowest quote he received was for $5,229.90 from Lefeld Implement, Coldwater, Ohio. Wellman said he also solicited quotes from several local sources.[[In-content Ad]]