Pike County adding new road equipment and one employee

The Pike County Quorum Court held their regular monthly meeting last week.    
Justices of the Peace approved an ordinance as presented and was based on the 2023 Pike County Budget. The appropriate funds for full-time salaries are $40,643.00, Social Security Matching $3,109.21, Retirement $6,226.54, and Health Insurance $6,600.
Pike County Judge Eddie Howard advised that he was able to cancel the roller order of $186,242.96 and has found a John Deere Roller more suited for the needs of the road department that was $129,829.14.  Judge Howard stated that he should be able to piggy-back off of the state bid and use ARPA Funds that was set aside in the budget. This would allow the county to save $56,000.
Judge Howard is also looking at trading in the 2018 Cat Backhoe with 900 hours for a John Deere excavator. Howard said he had been quoted a trade-in value of $83,670 with a purchase price of $130,768.75 for the excavator, a difference of $47,098.75. Howard stated that ARPA Funds left over from the allocation from the roller could be used to fund this purchase.
Judge Howard then asked the quorum about the possibility of hiring 2 additional road crew. Howard is currently operating with 2 foremen and 11 crew which was down from Judge Baker’s count of 2 foremen and 13 crew in 2014. Howard stated the need for 2 more employees would significantly help with catch-up road work. 
Justices of the peace approved a motion to allow Judge Howard to add 1 additional road crew at the cost of $56,578.95.