Board approves culvert vendor and a Western Star truck chassis; radio tower upgrades continue

The Richland County Board approved two procurement items and heard updates on radio-site work at its Feb. 12 meeting.

Highway staff presented the county's annual culvert request for proposals, which asks vendors to price culvert material by diameter and gauge. Staff recommended awarding the contract to the lowest-priced responsive vendor listed in the packet. The chair called for a motion and the board approved the vendor as recommended.

The board also reviewed three bids for a truck chassis funded through capital-improvement borrowing. Staff recommended purchasing a Western Star 47X chassis from Truck Country at $165,135 to preserve fleet uniformity, citing maintenance and parts advantages over adopting a newer engine model in the lowest bid. One supervisor raised concerns about relying on a single manufacturer but supported the recommendation for practical fleet management reasons. A motion to buy from Truck Country carried with board approval.

Separately, staff reported on radio and tower work: audio testing at 63 of 70 planned sites was largely successful, the sheriff's channel is operating on a patched analog/digital configuration, licensing and generator work remain in progress, and the county has filled a new position to manage tower sites (role split between IT and radio functions) with an expected start later this month.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract documents and procurement paperwork for the culvert purchase and chassis order; the county will continue radio licensing and generator-site work and onboard the tower specialist.