Winter woes line budget with red ink

By MEGAN COOPER

Mt. Pleasant News

It?s no surprise, but the Henry County Road Department was over its snow and ice budget for the winter.

?We were about $20,000 over the anticipated budget,? said Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss during the Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. ?I feel good about it though with the type of weather we had and I really appreciate the work the guys did this winter.?

According to Hotchkiss, there were around 20 different incidents this winter involving snow.

?It was quite a bit of snow,? said Hotchkiss. ?But it wasn?t large, significant amounts. Those small incidents cost the same, two inches of snow is the same as six inches of snow. It takes the same amount of time and material. In reality, I feel really good about it based on the numbers and the times we were out and the fact that they seemed to all land on weekends, those are more expensive.?

With the snowy weather behind us, the engineer is gearing up to start construction projects in the area.

?We are getting projects ramped up, and the big one is the Oasis Avenue bridge, it will be closed as of Wednesday. It?s just north of 260th Street,? said Hotchkiss. ?The contractor will be moving in equipment this week so they will have time to get set up. That?s our bridge project for the summer.?

During the meeting, Hotchkiss discussed his weekly update, which included blading of gravel roads, patching Winfield Avenue, hauling rock and seeding in various locations.

?We had a lot of blading of territories going on last week,? said Hotchkiss. ?We hauled rock in the Salem and Tippecanoe townships and we also worked on our new building pad. We worked on that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and have that completed now. We also did some touchups on our retention pond.?

The engineer stated during the meeting that his budget is at about 50 percent right now.

?We?ve spent about 50 percent of our budget,? said Hotchkiss. ?We are doing really well and we should have all our new equipment bought for this year.?

The engineer budgeted for FY2014, $4,947,500, and the cost to date is $2,429,978.71.

?We will see a spike in the roadway maintenance here soon because that?s where the rock is coming from,? said Hotchkiss, ?but everything looks good so far.?

Derek Wellington, IT/Tech Coordinator for Henry County brought two bids for the elevator contract before the board.

?Schumacher Elevator Company and O?Keefe Elevator Company Inc. both gave me a bid for the elevator contract,? said Wellington. ?Schumacher had come in and wanted to bid on the contract and so we allowed it. They gave us what their five-year contract would be and so I called O?Keefe and let them know that there was another bid. We currently have O?Keefe and we pay $227.15 a month for repair services, which includes parts and labor. All major problems are covered.?

According to Wellington, the agreements are identical and they both cover the same thing concerning labor and warranty.

?Schumacher came in at $125 a month and O?Keefe came in with a new bid of $155 a month, each is a five-year contract,? said Wellington. ?I got references from the hospital on Schumacher and I know they (Schumacher) service U.S. Bank and the prison as well. There were good things said about them. I didn?t get references for O?Keefe because we currently use them and never had any issues with them.?

Wellington said there were no issues with either company and the discussion would come down to money.

?I don?t have a grudge against either company and no complaints,? said Wellington. ?It?s your (the board) decision to go with. I do find it interesting that we have been paying $227.15 for many years and now it?s much lower.?

After discussion, the board decided to switch to Schumacher, stating it was a money issue and nothing about the servicing.

The Henry County Board of Supervisors will meet again in regular session on Thursday, April 17, at 9 a.m. in the board room at the courthouse.