There will be no gravel road in Colburn this year, but the township’s old spare truck will get some muchneeded maintenance. After remarking that the township had just $4,500 left to the end of the year as of the September meeting and that the town board couldn’t exceed its budget by more than six percent without calling a meeting of the town electors, Colburn town chairman Brad Hompe had a basic reality to share.

“We’re pretty much done,” he said of major road projects for the year. The Town of Colburn was said to be sharing a culvert project with the Town of Arthur on 290th Avenue, for which the remaining cost to Colburn was $3,500. Half of this cost would ultimately be returned to the township, but not until the first of the year. Meanwhile, a recently-paved asphalt road in the township was reported as having potential issues, with the east side of the road in question bigger than the west.

“To me it looks like that’s been in white water and we’re going to have problems,” one town worker named Dale said.

“It’s enough where there’s going to be water sitting on it?” Hompe asked of the issue.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be sitting on it. It’s going to be there,” Dale said of water on the road. “I wasn’t impressed with it myself.”

“We’ll take a look at it,” Hompe said, then switching to a related matter. “Do we have any pothole patching left?” he inquired. As it turned out, there had been some on 350th Avenue for the year and would probably need to be a few touchups. “Otherwise the roads are smooth,” it was reported. Signs the town needed had been ordered, but the grass was starting to encroach on roadways. “Are we pretty much caught up on getting the sod cut?” Hompe asked the town workers present. He wasn’t sure if they just had a bad dry spell that prevented grating, but it needed to get cut. Meanwhile, the older truck that did a lot of the heavy lifting for Colburn was experiencing age-related mechanical problems, leading to another question: how much money to put into it before giving up?

“The only other thing I have special is the truck,” Hompe said of the night’s discussion items. Supervisor Steve Sime reported that a high pressure oil pump on the truck was leaking, with a minimum cost of $1,500 for a refab part or $1,800 for a new one, plus an estimated $800 for labor, he reported.

“So minimum you’re looking at $2,300,” Sime said of the truck repair cost to the township.

“They don’t sell parts to fix them?” a second road worker named Dale asked, getting an answer in the negative. Repairs had to be sent to the shop for rebuild. Do-it-Yourself repairs weren’t an option.

“What are other issues outstanding with that truck, though?” Hompe asked.

“Well the worst part on that truck other than the pump is the frame a little rusty,” the second Dale answered. “That broke in four places, four different places this month.” One crack was on the bottom, another could be seen on the top flange, one by the battery box and a fourth on the opposite side. The rust cracks were in the outer frame, with the inner frame still speculated to be good by another present.

“So do you weld reinforcements or put a bead on it?” Hompe asked.

“Well I put a bead on it and filled it in,” the second Dale answered. “I wouldn’t be too concerned, as long as you watch it.”

“My question is, is the truck running good yet?” Sime asked.

“Runs real good,” a second Dale said. The transmission worked.

“I mean as far as you were talking earlier, that truck is probably worth thirty-five hundred to four thousand dollars,” Sime observed. With half of that amount going to repairs, it could be worth it so long as the truck ran well, he said. Hompe, meanwhile, had his own thoughts.

“I don’t think it’s worth anything to sell, but it might be worth something to us just to save wear and tear on our equipment,” he shared, as the woes of the old town truck were brought to light. That wasn’t all.

“The other thing is I ended up fixing the hydraulic tank this month,” the second Dale said of a leak they had addressed.

“What do you want to do?” Hompe asked.

“I guess I’m still for getting it fixed,” Supervisor Kiel Morello said of the truck. “Just to keep two trucks and have two trucks on the road one day rather than one on two days.”

“And put off the gravel?” Sime asked of a road project, being told that this wasn’t possible with the budget the way it was. “Bill’s not going to like that,” Morello remarked. The road in question had reportedly been in its present condition for some time.

“All right, we’ll get her fixed up,” Hompe said of the truck after feedback. “Anything else, Dale or Dale?” he asked.

“Do you want me to fix that fuel tank too or not?” the second Dale asked.

“You can,” Hompe answered. A fuel tank had worn through under the van, it was reported. From there it was into monthly check signing and dismissal. With a motion by Morello, seconded by Sime the sign was given to head home.

“We’re adjourned,” Hompe announced, with the next meeting scheduled for October 6th at 7:00 p.m. For contact and other information, Colburn township residents can go to www.colburntown.com. Meanwhile, the next biweekly recycling opportunity in Colburn is scheduled on the website’s calendar on September 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Staff photo by Joseph Back.