New truck purchased for use at county dump; Emergency pipe repair in progress at the courthouse

Carroll County officials were able to purchase a new truck last week for use at the county landfill despite chip shortages that have prompted automakers to cut production.

At last week’s meeting of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, the Office of Fleet Management/Warehouse Operations submitted a request to purchase a 2022 Ford F-250 Crew Cab 4×4 with an 8 foot bed from Apple Ford. The purchase price is $48,625.36; The commissioners approved the request.

“I think we finally got lucky for once on the vehicle side,” said Reid Oliver, head of fleet management. “There was an order placed by another municipality and they ended up canceling it, so we have the option of picking up that order and buying the vehicle. … Two things that make it exciting are that we can buy it at the price of the contract, even though no one can order vehicles at the moment, and the vehicle already has a production date of May 9, so we can expect to have it by June.

The truck will replace an older vehicle used by the Office of Solid Waste to transport staff to the landfill and transport parts or supplies to and from vendors. Rust has developed throughout the body of the truck, Oliver said, rendering it unfit for road traffic. The old truck will be auctioned off once the new vehicle arrives.

“Our only other option right now would be to shop around at local dealerships and see what they have in stock and we’re looking at $60,000 for a truck,” Oliver said.

Due to an ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips, Ford has cut production of trucks and SUVs. The chip shortage dates back to early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted gradual shutdowns of vehicle assembly plants.

The commissioners also approved on Thursday a request from the Office of Facilities to use a first-class mechanical term contractor for emergency repairs to the heating and cooling water lines at the courthouse annex.

The work will cost $49,253, which includes all materials, labor and equipment.

“The current lines are original to the building [and] started leaking into the underground pipeline,” said Justin Megonnell, facilities office manager.

First Class Mechanical will remove approximately 2,400 feet of 4-inch piping and install new Schedule 40 carbon steel piping with mega crimp fittings as well as four new valves in the boiler room, Megonnell said.

The four new steel pipes will be insulated with 1½ inches of fiberglass insulation. The project will start on May 9 and take a week to complete, he said.

“Our maintenance staff were doing building checks and caught it pretty early,” Megonnell said. “There was a lot of water in this underground pipe which we pumped out, cleaned and then found the leaks.”

Since the heating line has been damaged, the building will be without heating throughout the repair process.

“Luckily the weather cooperated with us,” Megonnell said.