The Clarke County Board of Supervisors approved 3-0 the purchase of a 2025 Peterbilt dump truck with snow accessories at Monday’s regular board meeting.
The overall cost of the dump truck including the equipment’s outfitting will be $317,243. Clarke County Engineer David Carroll received interest quotes on a five-year, annual pay bank loan from the four local banks/credit unions in Osceola. The lowest quote received was from First National Bank at 4.89%, which Carroll recommended due to it being the lowest; other rates received were 5.38% from American State Bank, 6.55% from First Interstate Bank and 7.04% from Community First Credit Union.
One reason for the purchase of the new dump truck was to update older equipment.
“We’re essentially trying to get our critical pieces of equipment back on a healthy rotation, which is our dump trucks, motor graders, those type of equipment that are really 80 percent of a lot of things we do. Having a healthy rotation with that is going to benefit the county as a whole,” said Carroll.
Some older equipment will be auctioned off to help generate revenue to purchase updated equipment, but a loan will be needed for the purchase of the Peterbilt.
“We are making some changes to implement new purchases…getting rid of old equipment instead of holding onto it...try to be diligent in what we do with your tax dollars,” said supervisor Austin Taylor.
All equipment sold will go into the engineer’s revenues, and the dump truck will be paid through the equipment budget item line.