Perry plans in‑house street push, orders two dump trucks and seeks county cooperation

Perry — City staff told the Perry City Council on Thursday they plan to accelerate street repairs by moving more work in‑house, purchasing heavy equipment and formalizing cooperation with Noble County.

The city’s draft capital plan includes approximately $330,000 to buy two new dump trucks to speed paving campaigns and reduce downtime while crews wait for hired haulers. Public works staff said hauling and coordination with outside providers has proven costly and unreliable for multi-block resurfacing work; city staff argued new trucks will allow crews to complete more streets in shorter windows.

The city also proposed buying or financing an asphalt layer and a specialized “sheep’s foot” packer for compaction to permit more effective local reconstruction. Public works staff said some of those pieces were purchased or financed in prior years, and the new capital investments would be integrated into a ten‑year street plan.

Why it matters: staff said truck availability was the bottleneck last season; a two‑truck purchase would accelerate production and reduce the number of contract haulers needed. “If we’re gonna knock out this many blocks and not use all of our time sitting around waiting for dump trucks to come, we need more trucks,” an operations manager said. Staff said they evaluated used and new options and that recent market changes made new trucks a feasible purchase this year.

Interlocal cooperation: council also considered an interlocal agreement with Noble County that formalizes cooperation on equipment and resource sharing for public-works operations and events. The agreement, drafted by county staff and reviewed by city counsel, is intended to provide a legal framework for borrowing equipment, mutual aid on projects and coordination for large repair efforts. City and county staff said an interlocal approach reduces duplication and can lower overall program costs.

Prioritization: staff presented a ranked list of street sections targeted for this fiscal year; proposed priority segments include Ninth Street (Boundary to Highway 77), Fourth Street (Ivanhoe to Tikah), Eighth Street (Fir to Ivanhoe), and several shorter blocks such as Grove (Eighth to Ninth) and Ninth (Cedar to Elm). Staff cautioned that several streets (including Quail Creek, raised by residents during public comment) contain older water services that must be replaced before full resurfacing and will require coordination with utilities and potentially separate projects.

Next steps: public works staff plan to order vehicles and equipment once the council finalizes budget adoption; staff also recommended signing the interlocal agreement so county crews and equipment can be used to help accelerate city work. Council approved the interlocal agreement at the meeting.