Commissioners approve equipment purchase

The Antelope County road department will receive two new pieces of equipment that will, in the long run, mean savings for the county, according to department head Aaron Boggs.

Commissioners approved the purchase of a paving machine for $500,000 and a milling machine, valued at $542,000, during the May 9 meeting in Neligh.

Following a rehash of the cost to fix roads, ranging from $300,000 to $900,000 for hot mix and at least $1 million for concrete, Boggs told commissioners it comes down to investing in the future, especially if the county needs to widen roadways.

“We can build a better structure which has more longevity,” Boggs said.

Chairman Charlie Henery said he isn’t sure what the correct answer is.

“If you put an oil road in, you get potholes, you get break up, people complain. If you grind the road up, so you can try to take a maintainer and smooth it, then there’s dust and mud. We’re not going to win on this situation.”

The chairman told others he believes concrete is the "way to go, but it's so darn expensive."

"It's going to be there for 25 years with hardly no maintenance," Henery said.

Commissioner Keith Heithoff reminded the board they are "hired by the county to get the best value for their dollar."

"Some days we have to make hard decisions," he said.

Boggs proposed the purchase of equipment so his department "can patch and pave our existing roads in a timely fashion at a functional price."

Heithoff asked how much training road department members will need to become proficient on the machines.

"I have the guys now," Boggs said, noting that one week of onsite training is included when the equipment is received. A more extensive training is available in Nashville.

"Half a dozen of us today can learn all these pieces of equipment and be successful," Boggs said.

Jake Ryba, representing Murphy Tractor and Equipment Company, provided details of both pieces of equipement.

Ryba said he "strongly suggests" employees attend the Nashville training also. Murphy Tractor and Equipment Company wil cover the cost of two employees.

"It's a full week that starts at the base of paving fundamentals to where you're paving in the parking lot at the end of the week," Ryba said.

Warranties for the paver will run $15,000 for a five-year period. On the mill, a five-year warranty will cost $10,000.

Ryba presented financing options, including lease and loan funding.

According to Ryba, the milling machine is in Omaha and the paver in Waterloo, Iowa.

"If we don't (purchase) today, we're probably looking at next year before we can get another one. They're on hold today," Boggs said.

Henery said when the county is spending $300,000 a mile to hot mix a road, "we might as well be owning the equipment."

He asked commissioner Regina Krebs for her opinion.

"At that price, yes," she replied.

Antelope County Clerk Lisa Payne asked if the purchase needed to go through a bid process.

According to Boggs, he reached out to other companies and researched products. No other company provided a bid.

County assessor Kelly Mueller-Oltjenbruns asked if the purchase would lead to hiring more crew or if there would be a need for a new facility to house the equipment.

"Aaron feels he has trucks and crew to support it. People have been asking us forever to have better roads," Henery said. "I feel it's time. we should've done it 20 years ago."

Commissioner Eli Jacob made a motion to purchase the two pieces.

Payne questioned why Boggs did not bring up a potential purchase until now.

"This is a discussion to buy a million dollars' worth of equipment. We talked at an earlier meeting about not buying any more equipment and now we're talking about buying a million dollars. I think we need to take a breath," Payne said.

Krebs seconded Jacob's motion, which passed unanimously.

Commissioners will discuss financing in June.

"I just think the savings on this is, I mean, you can't do anything, contract it, for double the price. This is the only way you're going to get on top of our oil roads," Krebs said.