Equipment discussed by Cloverdale council

CLOVERDALE — Leaders in Cloverdale are looking to keep tabs on the town’s different pieces of equipment and other vehicles. Part of the finagling is determining what is useful.

Town Manager Jason Hartman brought repair estimates for a damaged backhoe and skid steer loader to the Cloverdale Town Council Tuesday evening.

Hartman stated that the backhoe had a door window and its back window knocked out at some point after a tree branch came through them. Including a repair on the blade, he said the cost to get it serviceable was $1,800. In comparison, buying a new door would be $2,900.

A quote from Bobcat of Indianapolis for repairs to the skid steer loader, which include fixing a cracked head cylinder, came in at $6,609. As it has not been used in a year, Hartman said it would be better to repair and then sell it. However, he added that some attachments like a brush would still be useful.

Though the skid steer loader has been sitting at Bobcat, Hartman said the repairs could be done locally and cheaper.

“I guess my argument is that even if we’re not gonna keep it, if we try to sell it now it’s of no or minimal value,” Hartman said. “I truly think we can use it. It drives me nuts every time I go down to the maintenance barn and I see a piece of equipment sitting there that hasn’t been used in a year.”

The council ultimately approved a motion to do whatever repairs were cheapest on the skid steer loader, as well as the in-house repairs on the backhoe.

Another issue has also been what kind of vehicle Hartman would be provided. Considered an administrative function, the council agreed to give Hartman a 2012 crew cab the town already has. Meanwhile, a town mowing employee would move from the 2012 truck to a 2004 truck.

At the same time, purchasing a new vehicle is not off the table. This means getting rid of different vehicles, including a tractor, a dump truck and a 2004 vehicle that does not run, for trade-in value.

Clerk-Treasurer Kelly Maners said it was possible to purchase a new vehicle for Hartman. In doing so, she emphasized that there needed to be an inventory going forward of vehicles to be repaired or replaced.

“If (the council) wanted to buy a new car right now, we could do it,” Maners said. “I’m just asking them to make sure we’re planning. I just want to make sure that we know what we have first before we just start spending money buying new.”

In another item of business, Hartman announced that the town had received three bids for installing a grinder lift station and force main near Blue Side Way. This is a project to replace an elevated sewer line that was damaged late last year.

The council choose the lowest bid by Plant Brothers Excavating out of Rosedale at $91,045. In comparison, one was by Graves Construction Services for $155,155 and the other was by Putnam Earthworks for $139,200.

In other business:

• The council passed Ordinance 2021-1 establishing a fund to hold monies awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act recently passed by Congress. Cloverdale will be given $450,000 with the stipulation of using it all by Dec. 31, 2024.

Maners said the money would come in two installments, but did not know the breakdown. While there are strings attached, she emphasized it could be used for water, sewer and broadband. Town Attorney Richard Shagley provided that the money did not need to be spent immediately should the requirements change.

• Maners announced that four outstanding checks were added back into the town’s accounts. These are checks that were more than two years old and had never been cashed after the town issued them.

• Town Marshal Steve Hibler announced that the Cloverdale Police Department’s new K-9 officer Argo had been fully certified. He also shared that Argo had recently located methamphetamine on his first patrol which resulted in an arrest.

Greg Jay was the only council member not in attendance at the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in the Cloverdale Town Hall.