Pettis commission proposes purchase of chip spreader

The Pettis County Commission on Thursday discussed purchasing a chip spreader to replace the one damaged in an accident near Green Ridge in August.

The county began leasing a chip spreader from GW Van Keppel Co., of Kansas City, Kan., in September, after the county’s chip spreader was struck by a motorist near Green Ridge and severely damaged.

“We’re trading in the old one that was damaged and replacing it with the one we had leased,” said Western Commissioner Larry Wilson.

The county is looking at purchasing a new chip spreader from Van Keppel, who will accept the trade-in and money the county paid for leasing a chip spreader toward the purchase of the new equipment.

The county will receive $95,000 in credit for the trade-in of the old chip spreader and $9,390 for two months of leasing the spreader from Van Keppel, so Pettis County will pay $70,110 for the $174,500 new chip spreader.

Road and Bridge Superintendent Bret Manuel said although the county had repaired the damaged chip spreader, officials were concerned that the “precision piece of equipment” would not function as it did before the accident.

Because Road and Bridge crews will not be able to use the chip spreader for the rest of the year due to weather, Manuel said they are hopeful to have the new chip spreader in use by the start of road construction season next year.

Wilson said the new chip spreader will be more reliable and cover a wider area of the road.

Road and Bridge Department staff will review the proposal before returning a recommendation to the commission.

“We have to review it first, and I think we’ll make a decision in the first part of next week,” Manuel said.

Commissioners also approved purchasing printers, monitors and a battery backup from Precision Computers, of Sedalia. Officials on Tuesday opened bids for a $1,599 Laserjet P4515N printer, a $2,129 Laserjet P4515X printer, a $159 Samsung 19-inch LCD monitor and a $64 battery backup.

Precision Computers was the only company to submit bids for the equipment, and county technologies division staff recommended accepting the proposal Thursday.