The increasing cost of asphalt could put additional pressures on the budget for the new ambulance building currently under construction along U.S. Hwy. 69 north of Frontenac, but under-runs on other areas of the project will probably just about balance it out.
That's according to a report presented to the Crawford County Commissioners on Friday by Sheriff Sandy Horton. He was joined by Joey Adams, manager of the county's ambulance service, and Tom Ragonese, special projects manager for the county, in updating the commissioners on the progress of the project.
The budget should fall short by about $7,300 on the asphalt for the access road and parking lot, Horton said. But the overall project budget should come up long by about $7,100, which would offset the difference in cost between initial asphalt bids and the current cost of the product.
That doesn't include the cost of furniture and appliances, including office furniture, kitchen equipment and furniture for the crew sleeping quarters, Horton said. But there will be ways to pay for those items without seeking an addition to the $800,000 project budget currently funded.
“We've been keeping a real close eye on the budget,” Ragonese said. “We're not saying it won't go up a few dollars, but it should even itself out and we should be real close.”
The county currently has funding in the budget that could be shifted to pay for the furnishing, Horton said. For example, the last ambulance the county had financed has been paid off and that money is still in the budget. Also, two new ambulances the county has contracted for probably won't be delivered until February at the earliest, he said, while funds to make payments for those has been budgeted to start at the beginning of the year.
“I think, as far as the price of the bids (on the building), I think we're going to be right on line with that,” Horton said. “I know what's put us in this turmoil is the asphalt.
“It ate away our cushion that we planned on having to buy a lot of the furniture with. It ate that away and it's gone.”
Ragonese also told the board some of the cost of asphalt could be reduced, at least in the short term, by delaying paving a portion of the parking area at the new building. He recommended putting off applying asphalt on the south side of the building until the spring, which could actually work out better from a construction standpoint, given the amount of dirt work and trenching done in the area.
“With all the trenching that's gone on over there (on the south side of the building), it probably wouldn't hurt to let that side sit over the winter, then asphalt it next spring,” Ragonese said.
The plan is still to asphalt on the north side lot yet this fall, he said. Commissioner Tom Moody agreed with Ragonese's assessment.
“Freezing and thawing over the winter will help to settle that ground,” Moody said.
The committee also presented commissioners with bids for an alarm system and telephone system for the new building at Tuesday's meeting. Ambulance director Adams was particularly concerned with getting the latest alarm technology installed, given the types of medications carried on ambulances or stored in the facility.
The board received two bids for the alarm system. Craw-Kan in Girard submitted a bid for $2,934. Touchton Electric and Alarms in Pittsburg submitted a slightly more expensive bid, at $3,041.75. But the Touchton bid was for new technology that would allow for zoned alarms and better tracking of who was accessing the building.
With the current alarm system, which is similar technology to the system proposed in the Craw-Kan bid, entering a password shuts down the entire system. With the newer technology, reflected in the Touchton bid, anyone entering the building would enter their password, which would shut down the alarm only to specified areas of the building.
The board voted unanimously to accept the bid from Touchton Electric for the alarm system. The board also voted to accept a bid from Tindel's Telephone Service in Pittsburg to install a new telephone system in the building and a bid from Phone Line in Frontenac to run telephone and data cable for the facility.
The project should be completed by the middle of November.
In other business, the Board:
• Approved a request for payment for the ambulance building from Tri-State Building and Supply Company in Pittsburg totaling $78,154.20, leaving a balance due on the project of $221,054.80;
• Approved Resolution 2008-138, a resolution proposing transportation system improvements for the county as part of a new state-wide comprehensive transportation program.
“The 10-year plan is up next year state wide,” said Jim Emerson, county counselor. “The state has started meetings and started to get the ball rolling. We've been asked to provide what we'd like to see in (a new transportation plan) as proposed projects.”
The resolution — which will be forwarded to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, state senators and representatives, candidates and the Kansas Association of Counties — outlined four separate projects for consideration as part of the next comprehensive transportation plan, in listed order:
1 – U.S. Hwy. 69 corridor improvements to four-lane highway in Bourbon, Crawford and Cherokee counties;
2 – Upgrade of U.S. Hwy. 400 to four lanes from El Dorado to U.S. Hwy. 69;
3 – Upgrade Kansas Hwy. 47 with wider driving surface and shoulders from the east city limits of Girard to U.S. Hwy. 69, and;
4 – Upgrade Kansas Hwy. 7 with wider driving surface and shoulders from the north city limits of Girard to U.S. Hwy. 69.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners will be 10 a.m. Friday in chambers at the Crawford County Courthouse in Girard.