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New baler malfunctions at Warrick County processing center; board presses vendor for replacement and approves surplus sale of old unit
Summary
A newly installed baler at the Warrick County processing center malfunctioned, damaging the conveyor and cracking the facility floor; staff said the vendor recommended replacing the conveyor and the board approved surplusing the removed Maxpax baler by sealed bid.
Warrick County processing-center staff reported that a newly delivered baler (BOR) malfunctioned during initial operation, causing a major bale failure that damaged the conveyor and left cracks in the center’s concrete doorway. County staff said the Marathon representative recommended replacing the entire conveyor.
“About halfway through the bail, it sounded like a nuclear bomb went off,” Freddy, the center’s operations speaker, said, describing the bale that ran with incorrect settings (the machine had been set for cardboard but ran plastic). He said the bottom roller had not been locked properly, shifted left and began drilling into the frame; municipal personnel performed an interim fix but the Marathon representative’s recommendation was to replace the whole conveyor.
Freddy said Marathon must provide written confirmation either committing to replace the conveyor or otherwise make the machine whole; he said staff may need to escalate the matter to Marathon if its proposed repairs are inadequate. A separate meeting comment described visible cracks in the center’s concrete floor after the delivery of the heavy forklift and baler; the Marathon representative said he would follow up to “make things right.”
The board also approved surplusing the removed Maxpax horizontal baler (Model HCB60 F-8, Serial 07088101). Sherry Severs, the county’s purchasing administrator, explained statutory requirements for disposals above the local threshold (citing IC522-226 and the advertisement requirements under IC5-22-6 and IC5-3-1 as noted in the packet) and recommended a sealed-bid process with publication dates and an opening at the next appropriate meeting. Freddy estimated the baler’s minimum value in the “20s” of thousands of dollars but said multiple local buyers had already expressed interest.
Board members voted to surplus the unit and directed staff to prepare the narrative for public advertising and to follow the sealed-bid process required by statute. The transcript uses multiple spellings for the Marathon representative’s name; the vendor was plainly identified in discussion as the seller/manufacturer associated with the baler delivery and repair discussions.
