July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Tracking down county trucks (04/03/07)
Jay County Commissioners
By By MARY ANN LEWIS-
To enhance response time by Jay County Highway Department employees to any situation where they are needed, commissioners Monday agreed to a two-year lease with ERS of Fort Wayne to put monitoring systems in each of the department's 11 dump trucks that maintain and plow roads in the county's 12 townships.
Highway superintendent Ken Wellman told commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer, and Faron Parr that the tracking system will allow the department to know where each vehicle is at all times and will provide information about the vehicle's performance.
He said the mechanical data will show possible mechanical problems before they occur or the driver is aware of a problem, he said, thus saving repair costs with preventative maintenance.
The system will be leased at $49.99 per vehicle or $549.89 per month, including a maintenance agreement. The per-month cost adds up to $6,598.68 per year.
The department currently uses a portable radio system, but Wellman said drivers aren't always tuned to the same frequency and there have been problems reaching some drivers in the past.
"We don't want the employees to think of this as a spy system, though," he said. "It will just let us know where each one of them is, as well as monitor the truck's performance."
He said the system will be very beneficial in the winter months when a snow plow is needed in the event of an emergency.
Also Monday afternoon, commissioners opened bids for paving materials and equipment rental for the highway department.
Eight bids were opened from area suppliers and were tabled until Wellman can examine them. He is expected to make a recommendation at next Monday's meeting.
Bids showed that emulsion, a liquid placed on the roadway before stone is put down during the chip-and-sealing process, increased to about $1.24 per gallon as compared to about 88 cents per gallon in 2006. The emulsion is also used to bind asphalt mix together.
"It went up way too much," Theurer said of the increased cost.
That increase may find the county unable to do as much paving as in 2006, Wellman said.
Additionally, the magnesium chloride used in a dust mat the county applies to some of its 250 miles of stone roads, also increased about four cents over the 2006 cost of 60 cents per gallon, Wellman said.
The increase will result in an increase of about $8,000 more this year to do the same number of miles, he said.
Also Monday commissioners learned from Ralph Frazee, director of the county's emergency management department, that Redkey is now eligible to receive reimbursement from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for dealing with the February snow storm.
Redkey costs were figured at $7,000 while Portland, Pennville, Dunkirk, the Jay School Corporation, and Jay County Hospital had combined costs of $56,005.
The Jay County Highway Department alone had $23,204 in additional costs related to overtime pay and the use of equipment.
Frazee learned recently from FEMA officials that affected government entities are eligible to receive 75 percent reimbursement for those costs.[[In-content Ad]]
Highway superintendent Ken Wellman told commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer, and Faron Parr that the tracking system will allow the department to know where each vehicle is at all times and will provide information about the vehicle's performance.
He said the mechanical data will show possible mechanical problems before they occur or the driver is aware of a problem, he said, thus saving repair costs with preventative maintenance.
The system will be leased at $49.99 per vehicle or $549.89 per month, including a maintenance agreement. The per-month cost adds up to $6,598.68 per year.
The department currently uses a portable radio system, but Wellman said drivers aren't always tuned to the same frequency and there have been problems reaching some drivers in the past.
"We don't want the employees to think of this as a spy system, though," he said. "It will just let us know where each one of them is, as well as monitor the truck's performance."
He said the system will be very beneficial in the winter months when a snow plow is needed in the event of an emergency.
Also Monday afternoon, commissioners opened bids for paving materials and equipment rental for the highway department.
Eight bids were opened from area suppliers and were tabled until Wellman can examine them. He is expected to make a recommendation at next Monday's meeting.
Bids showed that emulsion, a liquid placed on the roadway before stone is put down during the chip-and-sealing process, increased to about $1.24 per gallon as compared to about 88 cents per gallon in 2006. The emulsion is also used to bind asphalt mix together.
"It went up way too much," Theurer said of the increased cost.
That increase may find the county unable to do as much paving as in 2006, Wellman said.
Additionally, the magnesium chloride used in a dust mat the county applies to some of its 250 miles of stone roads, also increased about four cents over the 2006 cost of 60 cents per gallon, Wellman said.
The increase will result in an increase of about $8,000 more this year to do the same number of miles, he said.
Also Monday commissioners learned from Ralph Frazee, director of the county's emergency management department, that Redkey is now eligible to receive reimbursement from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for dealing with the February snow storm.
Redkey costs were figured at $7,000 while Portland, Pennville, Dunkirk, the Jay School Corporation, and Jay County Hospital had combined costs of $56,005.
The Jay County Highway Department alone had $23,204 in additional costs related to overtime pay and the use of equipment.
Frazee learned recently from FEMA officials that affected government entities are eligible to receive 75 percent reimbursement for those costs.[[In-content Ad]]
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