Franklin County Council member Joe Gillespie and Brookville Fire Department chief Mark Shires brought a request for funding to Franklin County Commissioners June 14 meeting.

Gillespie explained to commissioners he and Shires had been discussing funding options to purchase a new ladder truck for the BFD, some of which may be sourced from the county's American Recovery Plan Act funding. Shires explained the department's current truck is a 1999 model that was purchased used. While the truck is still functional and passes inspections, the hydraulic system and transmission are showing their age. Shires noted the BFD's ladder truck serves the entire county, as it is the only ladder truck in the county. 

Shires received a quote of $844,000 for a new ladder truck with a two-year lead time. Within those two years, Shires expects the BFD could contribute $250,000 to the purchase. The quote Shires received came with a warning: an expected price increase after July. 

Shires addressed concerns that commissioner Tom Linkel had made concerning the county's bridges with low load capacity, less than 16 tons. The truck quoted weighs approximately 45,000 pounds, but is 34 feet long. Many of the low capacity bridges it would cross are short enough, the front wheels of the truck would be clear of the bridge before the rear wheels are on the structure, meaning most of the bridges would not be required to support the truck's full 22.5 tons, although Shires admitted it would be restricted from crossing a few of the county's bridges.

Commissioner Tom Wilson noted the county has received more requests for ARPA funds than are available and asked Franklin County Economic Development Commission chair John Palmer for advice on narrowing down the list. Palmer reported ARPA requests currently exceed available funds by around $300,000, but only a small portion has been formally approved at this point; no requests have been formally rejected. 

Palmer advocated for the purchase of the ladder truck, noting he considers it a county truck, not just a Brookville truck, and suggested seeking other supplemental funding sources. Shires noted the ladder truck can be used in response to emergencies other than just tall buildings, including river and creek rescues or grain bins.

Also discussed:
-Commissioners opened bids for an upcoming Community Crossings Matching Grant and a bridge project. Linkel opened one bid for bridge 42 over Snail Creek from R L Vuckson Excavating Inc. of Scottsburg for a total of $651,581 and asked county engineer Larry Smith to review the bid. 

Bids for the CCMG project, which includes road resurfacing of Five Points Road and Whitcomb Road, were opened next. Paul H. Rohe Co. Inc. of Aurora bid a total of $1,201,042, Dave O' Mara Contractor Inc. of North Vernon bid a total of $1,095,196 and Olco Inc of Batesville bid a total of $1,754,955. Linkel asked Smith to review the low bid by Dave O'Mara to ensure it is up to specifications. 

Later in the meeting, Smith reported the Snail Creek bridge is acceptable. The paving bids are substantially higher than anticipated due to price increases for asphalt materials. Smith advised commissioners the county will need to come up with an additional $260,000 to cover the additional costs. Smith noted the county has plenty of time before they need to make a decision and suggested discussing the matter with county council to identify potential funding sources.

Commissioners reviewed and accepted easement agreements for the construction of the bridge on River Road over Gobles Creek. Kevin Defossett agreed to donate 0.167 acres of his property and Brian Defossett agreed to donate 0.05 acres of his property to the county for the needed easements. Michael Fehlinger agreed to sell 0.309 acres of his property to the county for $2,947 for the needed easements.

-Commissioners proclaimed June Scleroderma Awareness Month at the request of Debbie Haussler, vice-chair of the Ohio chapter of the National Scleroderma Foundation. Haussler explained scleroderma is a rare, incurable autoimmune disease with a range of symptoms and severity. The National Scleroderma Foundation is working to expand awareness of the disease, nationwide, to increase funding to research efforts. 
Haussler related her personal experience with scleroderma. Her husband was a retired police lieutenant before taking on a chief of police position. Haussler suspects the stress of the job triggered the scleroderma, which is thought to be passed on genetically. 

-Commissioners approved an amendment to the county's contract with DLZ, the engineering firm hired to work on handicap accessibility updates at the government center. The county's newly hired building inspector will be able to perform inspection work on the project, eliminating the need to pay DLZ for that service and cutting $63,000.

-Linkel updated his peers on the status of three foreman trucks for the highway department. Ford and General Motors are not currently taking orders for three-quarter and one-ton trucks through the government bid process. Stellantis is taking orders for RAM trucks with an estimated eight-week delivery. Commissioners approved the order of three diesel one-ton RAM trucks at $67,740 each.

Linkel also gave an update on two snow trucks on order from International, which are currently scheduled for production in March of 2023. Once built, they will need to be outfitted with beds, plows and accessories.