County board purchases motorgrader and truck

YORK – The York County Commissioners made two big purchases this past week, as they met in regular session – a motorgrader and a truck (with plow and flatbed) for the county’s road department.

​Both purchases were included in this fiscal year’s budget.
Regarding the motorgrader, they received quotes from both Nebraska Machinery Company and Murphy Tractor. Written quotes had already been submitted by the companies and representatives of each also verbally presented some options during the meeting.
“We went through the quotes (for the new machines) and they are very comparable,” Greg Heine from the roads department told the county board members.
“In the past, we always did this through the bid process,” said Commissioner Randy Obermier. “These are quotes through the state-approved system so we don’t have to go through the traditional bidding process.”
“We wanted representatives from both companies to be here so they could talk about their machines, as either would do good for us,” Heine said. “The machine from CAT is on the ground and the John Deere needs to be ordered but would be here pretty quickly.”
NMC presented quotes for a new machine and also presented the option of purchasing a used machine. He said the used machine was approximately $283,000 (after trade-in), compared to $354,000 for a new machine. He also said the used machine came from a township “and towns don’t push these machines too hard.”
“How many counties do straight up leases for motorgraders versus buying?” asked Commissioner Andy Bowman.
The NMC rep said he wasn’t aware of many, but a lease could be done on a five-year basis. “We have both options but we don’t have a lot of counties doing leases.”
“The one thing that gets us in trouble is the cost of repairs,” Bowman said. “We use these machines every single day and that’s where my head goes.”
“If you get yourself in a decent rotation, use them while under warranty and then trade them out . . .” the rep said. “A number of years ago, this board bought five in one shot and that makes it hard to in a decent rotation.”
“Well, we have a machine now we don’t feel comfortable using and the amount of money needed for repairs is high,” Bowman said.
Regarding leasing motorgraders, the Murphy representative noted the cost would be “a little more up front but there would be zero repair costs. We’ve done quite a few leases with feedlots, as an example. With counties, the payment might seem a little higher but again, there are no repair costs.”
The quotes were then reviewed by Heine, Bowman and Commissioner Daniel Grotz.
“We have different options which isn’t a bad thing,” Grotz said. “I’m not opposed to a used machine but if we move forward with a used machine, I think we need to see if first.”
The first motion was made by Bowman who wanted to authorize Heine (with himself and Grotz) to sign off on a new machine not to exceed $384,000 or a used machine not to exceed $282,350 – after they were able to see the used machine.
“I don’t know if we want to get into the habit of giving permission to do that,” Obermier said, noting he’d rather see the board vote on the purchase and not authorize a few people to make the determination later. And I think if we get a used machine, we need to think about how it fits into our rotation.”
“If we make the decision today, we are not prepared to purchase the used one today,” Grotz said. “If we need to buy today, I recommend the Murphy unit.”
“Regarding that authorization, I don’t like that either, but I also don’t like kicking the can down the road on this,” Bowman said.
“My opinion is to buy a new machine and then formulate a plan,” Obermier said, regarding the rotation of machines in the fleet.
Bowman’s original motion died due to lack of a second.
Obermier then made a motion to purchase a new grader from Murphy Tractor, with a cost of $348,750 after trade-in. He also noted the money for this purchase would be coming from the inheritance fund, as it was budgeted.
Bowman voted no but the other commissioners voted yes.
Following that decision, they decided to purchase a F550 truck that will have a plow as well as a flat bed – to replace an old dump truck.
“We felt this would be better utilized all year-round,” Grotz said.
“This set up is the first of what we hope to see in the future, to better serve the county’s needs and to be economical while getting more utility out of it,” Bowman said.
Heine said the old dump truck is only used for snow events and it sits the rest of the year. This new truck with the different features would be used all year. He also said the old dump truck is a 1997 model.
The commissioners agreed to purchase the new truck.