Commissioners defer final decisions on major road equipment repairs; motor grader, wheel loader estimates due Thursday

Burke County commissioners postponed final budget decisions on several road department capital items after staff said they would have more complete repair and value estimates at a finance committee meeting later in the week.

Staff told the board the motor grader repair estimate will be discussed at a Thursday finance committee meeting and that the county believes it can absorb certain repairs within the current year’s operations budget. The motor grader repair estimate discussed on the record was about $92,000; staff advised commissioners they expect to have a firm recommended treatment after the finance committee meets. The wheel loader and a wheeled excavator were also discussed as candidates for repair, sale or replacement.

Commissioners discussed options to free recurring budget dollars by selling older equipment and by purchasing mechanized pothole patching equipment; one commissioner said a pothole patcher could free up crews and reduce labor needs compared with four staff doing manual or slower processes. The board asked staff to obtain equipment valuations and to return with a prioritized list so commissioners could match capital requests to available funds or sale proceeds.

No final capital appropriation was made during the session. Staff will present repair estimates and resale values at the Thursday finance committee meeting and bring a revised unresolved issues list back to the board in a subsequent work session.