Sep 29, 2022

County moves forward on landfill scraper repair, purchase of dirt

Posted Sep 29, 2022 3:00 PM

By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post

Call it "dirt cheap." At Wednesday's meeting, the Barton County Commission agreed to move forward on repairs of the Caterpillar 615C Scraper that is used to move dirt at the landfill, and also agreed to contract Prosser Dirt to haul in more dirt from an excavation project at Cheyenne Bottoms.

"The crankshaft bolt came out causing the dampener and pulley to come off, which rendered the machine inoperable," Solid Waste Director Jennifer Hamby said of the repairs. "We sent it Foley Caterpiller in Salina to have the repair done. The initial quote was $56,000 for this repair."

The scraper had previously been rebuilt in 2018, but the warranty expired last year. In discussions with Foley, Hamby was able to get the repair price down to $30,000, and that also included a new seal for the hydraulic tank. Commissioner Kirby Krier noted this was not a maintenance issue for the machinery and made the motion for approval on the repair, which passed 5-0.

Approximately five years ago, members of the Hoisington Gun Club met with Phil Hathcock, who was then the landfill director. The club would be working on a project at Cheyenne Bottoms and agreed to let the landfill have the dirt.

"The landfill can never have too much dirt," said Hamby. "We use dirt for cover, for building roads, building berms. We had agreed to pay for the hauling. The dirt is free but we would pay for the hauling."

Prosser Dirt is doing the excavation work and won the bid to haul the dirt at $120 per load, even if the work is subcontracted out. Commissioners agreed that is a good price for the dirt. Commissioner Jennifer Schartz asked how many loads the landfill would receive. Hamby did not have a number but said it will be 80,500 cubic yards of dirt. The landfill has already received 6,000 cubic yards. Hamby said the remainder of the project could take several years.