HAYDEN J EMRAH
WZBD.com
Highway Superintendent Brad Yoder spoke with members of the Adams County Council at their July meeting regarding the ongoing supply issues that the county, and his department, have faced in the process of acquiring a new dump truck.
Currently, the county is in possession of a single-axle vehicle chassis, which can be used as a platform for building a new dump truck, saving the costs of purchasing a new–or even used–vehicle outright. Discussions on the matter started at an October commissioners meeting, where contractor bids were presented and W.A. Jones was selected at a cost of $167,067 to build the new vehicle. It was expressed in that October meeting that the county should enter a contract to build the truck sooner than later in order to ensure a cheaper rate and availability for parts.
Since that October meeting however, supply chain issues for acquiring the new parts has halted the project, pushing the scheduled purchase of parts–most notably the transmission–to 2025. That was, until a week prior to the July meeting, when the highway department was made aware of a transmission available for a $125,000 purchase. The condition, however, is that funds be made available for this purchase by the end of the 3rd quarter, i.e. the beginning of September.
Brad Yoder explained the scenario to the council, stating, “We were made aware last week that now there are issues in getting the transmissions for these new trucks. If we would wait until ’25, when we were planning on asking [for the funds], you’re probably not going to get a truck, because they may not be able to supply transmissions.” He added that a benefit of the hastened schedule is that the county would likely receive the new vehicle by the end of this year.
After some deliberation between the council and staff, it was understood that the proper course of action is that while Adams County doesn’t have to pay for the new vehicle until 2025 as initially budgeted, that the Indiana State Board of Accounts requires the proper funds need to be appropriated before the plan can be approved. In addition to this, Adams County is required to publish advertising for bids on the matter before being able to purchase the part.
Discussions ended with the council thanking Brad Yoder for bringing the potential purchase to their attention, and giving their unofficial approval to open bids for purchasing the transmission. No appropriation of funds could be voted on, however, until the opening of bids could be advertised and a vote from the county commissioners could be held, and so the matter will likely be discussed again in their August meeting.
