Commissioners approve use of county's pugmill for Milestone project at Plymouth Airport

Friday, April 25, 2025 at 3:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

This week, Marshall County Commissioners approved an agreement allowing Milestone Contractors to use the Highway Department’s pugmill.

Superintendent Jason Peters stated that Milestone Contractors approached him asking for the county’s assistance in a project at the Plymouth Airport. He mentioned that they require a pugmill-type machine to process approximately 12,000 tons of dry material.

The plan is to relocate the county machine to Milestone’s plant in South Bend, along with an operator to operate the equipment and produce the necessary materials.

Peters gave Milestone a price of $4.50 a ton to run the material. The County Attorney was working on the agreement and suggested that Milestone offset the cost of materials or paving in that amount instead of writing the county a check.

Attorney Sean Surrisi said Milestone is a valued vendor that has done business for the county in the past on a variety of projects. This unique piece of equipment is helpful to them with the Plymouth Airport project. He said staffing the pugmill won’t interfere with the regular work of the highway department. Surrisi said the money owed to the county for processing the materials would be reflected as a credit to the county on a future job, but no jobs that are part of a public bid or for materials.

Commissioner Jesse Bohannon motioned to approve the agreement, and Commissioner Adam Faulstich seconded the motion. Commissioner Stan Klotz asked Peters how long it will take to run the 12,000 tons and he estimated a week to a week and a half.

The commissioners unanimously approved the agreement with Milestone.