A broken loader at the Fairgrounds Convenience Center has the county considering purchasing a $61,000 furniture compactor. 

At the county Safety and Beer Board Committee meeting last week, Sanitation Department director Josh Roberts told commissioners that a 570 CLT 1994 model loader went down at the Fairgrounds site. There was a crack in the engine that caused oil to be thrown out. A bid to fix the engine on the loader came in at approximately $16,000. Roberts says that loader has over 7,000 hours on it and it is a liability.

“Since my time at Sanitation I have been wanting to get rid of that loader anyway. It is too much liability over there with too many moving parts. You have 100 people there at any given time on a busy day then you have a loader running around the parking lot pulling up to the back of a truck trying to unload a couch,” said Roberts.

“What is the highest that loader has to pick up?” asked Commissioner Gary Prater.

“The tallest bin we have is eight feet tall,” said Roberts.

“Would a skid steer do it?” asked Prater

“It would and we have a skid steer, but the skid steer will not pack the furniture because it cannot get over enough to tilt the bucket over and get it down,” Roberts

“What is your plan to replace it?” asked Commissioner Ron Lee.

“We have been dying for a furniture compactor ever since we heard of one. They are a lot of money, but with a loader with an open top you are going to get two tons in it. A furniture compactor is going to hold 16 tons. That is eight loads to one. We can put a furniture compactor with a box in for $61,000. We have the money in the fund balance to do it. We are sitting on over $600,000 in surplus,” said Roberts.

Prater asked how long it would take to get a furniture compactor and Roberts said if they acted now it would take 16 to 18 weeks. The committee did not make a decision on the purchase at this meeting.