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Sanitary engineers request crane truck purchase and seek RIF approvals for multiple water/sewer projects
Summary
Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrow asked commissioners to approve purchase of a crane truck (~$227,295) from the replacement improvement fund (RIF) and to create or seed RIF accounts to finance a series of engineering contracts for package‑plant conversions and pump‑station upgrades; commissioners asked for a clear spreadsheet of fund balances and projected remaining reserves before voting on multiple projects.
Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrow told the Trumbull County commissioners his office wants to buy a crane truck (about $227,295) to improve crew safety and reduce expensive emergency rentals. Wastewater superintendent Shane Wilson said the county services roughly 28 pump stations plus package plants and routinely pulls pumps for maintenance, making frequent rentals impractical.
Funding and programmatic plan Newbrow said the county’s sewer Replacement Improvement Fund (RIF) has built a balance large enough to cover capital equipment purchases; he said the sewer RIF balance is in the millions and the annual RIF revenue is roughly $792,000 (22,000 accounts × $3 per month). The truck purchase was described as coming from the RIF, not ratepayer base service charges.
Multiple engineering projects proposed Newbrow also outlined several engineering agreements and planned conversions of aging package plants to force mains and pump stations. He said he has negotiated engineering contracts for projects that will come to bid and that the RIF could seed engineering budgets to avoid taking promissory notes on projects. Commissioners voiced concern about approving several projects at once without a clear account‑by‑account spreadsheet and asked staff to provide (in writing) how much each project will draw from each RIF, what the remaining balance will be, and contingency reserves.
Next steps Commissioners directed the sanitary‑engineer’s office to provide a detailed spreadsheet that lists each RIF, current balances, the proposed draws for each project, and expected remaining balances so the board can review priorities and timing before approving multiple expenditures. The truck purchase was viewed as more immediately supportable; several commissioners said they were prepared to vote on that item after the requested documentation was provided.
Attribution: Details and quotes are drawn from remarks by Gary Newbrow and Shane Wilson during the sanitary engineers’ agenda items (Items 23–29).
