By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Just one agenda item made it before the Barton County Commission Tuesday ahead of the July 4 holiday. The board did vote 5-0 for the purchase of a new heavy-duty tire changer for the Road and Bridge Department. County Works Director Darren Williams presented the item to the commission.
"Recently, staff determined the addition of a heavy-duty tire changer would improve operations," he said. "In addition to staff safety, time management and productivity would be improved while reducing maintenance costs."
The county will purchase a Hunter TCX635PHD at a cost of $23,276. Williams said the old tire changer may be at least 50 years old and has not worked in some time. The department often deals with tires weighing more than 200 pounds, and Commissioner Duane Reif said that can open the door for more expenses.
"A 200-pound tire, that's a good example of a workman's comp claim," he said. "A workman's comp claim can eat up $23,000 really quickly."
Barton County currently operates more than a dozen dump trucks, each with 10 tires. Williams said front tires need to be replaced every 15-20,000 miles so the new tire changer will be used often.