County Council approves $600,000 additional for Highway Department for road work

Last week, Marshall County Commissioner Jesse Bohannon asked the County Council to consider a $600,000 additional appropriation out of the General Fund from the County Council for stone, gravel, and aggregate.

Bohannon told council members this is what was talked about during the budget process. The $600,000 for materials is the estimated amount Highway Superintendent Jason Peters believes he will need to start road repairs next year.   He said, “This is money we were going to spend next year, but instead we are trying to spend it before the end of this year so we can purchase the materials before the price increase on January 1^st and also to make sure we have all the materials on the ground and ready to go so when the weather turns in the spring we can hit the ground running.” 

As an explanation, Bohannon said if the county continues to purchase road repair supplies at the end of the year, before the price increases for the new year, it isn’t really an increase in spending; it's just a shift in purchasing materials back a couple of months.

Council President Tim Harman said if the commissioners considered taking the $600,000 additional from the Highway Department’s Local Road and Street Fund.  He said the current balance is $477,000, and they have spent a million out of it so far this year.

Councilman Greg Compton said this was discussed during the budget process and the Highway Subcommittee meetings.

Councilman Brandon Schadrak said he looked favorably at the request, given the year the Highway Department has had.  He likes purchasing ahead of time, and if there is a down year, you won’t purchase as much the next year. His only reservation was the funds needed to purchase the Regional Sewer District's debt.

Bohannon said, “Sounds like this is the $600,000 that the sewer board spent since we told them to stop spending in February.”   

Harman said, “If this request gets approved, and the Sewer Board, there will still be approximately $9 million in the General Fund at the end of the year.”

Councilman Jim Masterson said, “We talked about this, and the consensus was we go forward with this, and we lay it out since we got it.  I know there are other expenses that are there, but we have to tighten our belts to do other things.  Let's have a road to drive to get to these other places.” 

The motion was made and unanimously approved to give the Highway the additional $600,000 to purchase stone, gravel, and aggregate for next year’s road projects.”