Repairs, delays, high costs prove frustrating for West Mead supervisors

May 11—WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP — An otherwise light agenda for the supervisors' monthly study session and regular meeting featured paving, repairs to several road department vehicles, and a heavy dose of frustration.

"It is very frustrating," said Supervisor John Shartle, who also serves as township roadmaster.

The frustrations ran the gamut from what seemed relatively minor — a replacement fuel pump that took over a week to arrive — to those that the taxpayer will definitely feel one way or another: The lowest of seven paving bids offered asphalt at a cost more than 30 percent higher than the same company offered a year ago.

The sources of frustration were varied, but one person in particular was the target as Shartle and Chairman Don Bovard commented after the meetings.

"Thank you, Joe Biden," Shartle added, "for what you're doing to our country."

Bovard echoed Shartle's mocking thanks to the president and pointed to high fuel costs in particular as the problem.

"What the average person doesn't understand," Bovard said, "is the price of a barrel of oil affects everything."

According to the Associated Press, The high price of oil is the main cause of the biting gasoline prices. A barrel of U.S. benchmark crude was selling for around $100 a barrel Tuesday, a price tag that has been climbing throughout the year. The high price of oil is largely because many buyers are refusing to purchase Russian oil because of its invasion of Ukraine. The European Union is considering an embargo on oil from Russia, which is a major supplier. Those pressures leave less oil to go around.

The price of crude oil affects asphalt in particular since asphalt is made from oil.

Supervisors on Tuesday approved paving on Meadowland Drive, Graff Street, Graff Street Extension and Arthur Street at a cost of $176,764. The work will be performed by Shields Asphalt Paving Inc. of Slippery Rock, which was the lowest of seven bids. Shields also will pave a portion of Clark Road for $18,195. The township split the cost of the Clark Road paving with the city of Meadville since the street follows the border between the two municipalities.

Shields' bid included a cost of $101 per ton for the lower level of asphalt and $102 per ton for the top layer. Last year, Shields was similarly the lowest of seven bids for a previous round of paving. In that bid, the lower level of asphalt was priced at $62.29 per ton and the top layer was priced at $71.20.

Funds for the paving projects will come from the township's liquid fuels budget, according to Secretary-Treasurer Jill Dunlap.

Liquid fuels allocations are annual payments to municipalities to help pay for highway and bridge-related expenses such as snow removal and road repaving and are funded by the state's oil franchise tax.

Supervisors also ratified a series of repairs to road department vehicles, even voting to add an additional repair approval to the agenda mid-meeting and alluding to still more repairs that are needed or underway.

Added to the agenda was the $13,400 replacement of the hydraulic system on the township's 2007 Mack Granite dump truck. Shartle said the truck's unreliability had made it unusable.

"We never know when the thing's going to work," Shartle said. "We got out the other day and we couldn't dump the bed, got the bed in the air and couldn't get it back down."

The work will be performed by Trux LLC of Wattsburg, which offered the lower of two estimates on the work.

Extensive brake repairs were ratified on a 1998 Mack truck at a cost of $6,632. The work was performed by Brian's Auto Repair, which is located in the township.

A transmission leak was repaired on a 2005 GMC 5500 truck at a cost of $2,275 by Penn Power Group of Cranberry Township. Various repairs were also performed on a 2007 Mack Truck at a cost of $1,790 by Kennedy Welding and Services of Guys Mills.

All of the repairs were approved unanimously. Similar ratifications — votes taken to approve spending on work that has already been performed — likely will be necessary in the near future. Shartle said another truck is in need of repair and the township's backhoe, purchased 18 months ago for $110,000, is currently out of service. Technicians are expected at the township building this morning to assess the machine, which is still under warranty. The machine is also very much needed, according to Shartle.

"Every single day we need a backhoe," he said. "I've got six places, right now, that need to have ditches cleaned."

While Shartle said that the various repairs were needed and unpredictable, he also noted the cost.

"I don't create these costs," he said. "They're astronomical."

The most expensive repairs the township has faced in recent years were recently completed. A new leaf vacuum system has been installed on the township's leaf vacuum truck, which has been out of service since last fall. The vacuum system was installed by Old Dominion Brush Company of Richmond, Virginia, at a cost of $108,410.

Shartle said no definitive explanation was ever established for the failure of the vacuum system that was replaced.

Replacement of the vacuum system was paid with federal pandemic relief funds.

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .