BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace agreed Thursday to spend $669,000 now on five new road graders and wait until the county sells some older machines at auction to recoup the money.
The Quorum Court approved spending the money for the equipment with the understanding the budget will be made whole once the used equipment is sold.
Other Business
Benton County’s Quorum Court met Thursday and approved:
• The second reading of an ordinance setting the penalty for delinquent timber taxes.
• The second reading of an ordinance raising the pay for justices of the peace by $25 per meeting of the Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole and other committees they serve on.
• Transferring money within the 2014 budget.
• Spending $25,611 to replace a vehicle for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
Source: Staff Report
"At the end of the day this will be a zero effect on the budget." Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4, said of the transaction. "We will actually get about $50,000 over this."
Jeff Clark, public services administrator and head of the Road Department, said the county originally planned on using its older vehicles for their trade-in value in buying new road graders but prices are better on equipment being sold at auction.
"We were offered more money on an auction basis," Clark said. "So if we can buy the new ones now we can get more back from the auction."
Clark said the county was offered about $110,000 each in trade-in for five used road graders. He said auction prices are now between $120,000 and $130,000 and the county has been offered as much as $135,000 for its equipment if they are sold at auction.
The Quorum Court approved a plan in the 2015 budget to begin replacing the aging fleet of road graders over five years with the new machines coming with a guaranteed "buy-back value from the dealer after five years. The road graders now in use will either be sold at auction or used as trade-ins, depending on the price they bring.
County Judge Bob Clinard told the justices of the peace he's working to replace the War Eagle Bridge, which has been listed as having serious deficiencies by the state Highway and Transportation Department. Clinard said the county's first choice is to keep the bridge for use by pedestrians and bicycles and to have the new bridge carry vehicles.
"War Eagle has surpassed its function," Clinard said of the bridge, which was built in 1908. "To meet the function of what we need for a working bridge we need a plan to replace it and keep the old bridge in place."
NW News on 01/23/2015