Snowplows are parked for repairs in the new Bartholomew County Highway Garage in Columbus. County highway employees started moving items and equipment into the office this week.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
After years of preparation and delays, more than 20 employees of the Bartholomew County Highway Department are finally settling into their new garage and headquarters.
On Dec. 10, the department’s address changed from 2452 State St. to 10150 E. 25th St.
While there was no official transition, county highway superintendent Dwight Smith says he feels the move was completed after his employees clocked in at the old garage and clocked out at their new facility.
While Smith said employees have been too preoccupied with moving boxes and equipment to take in their new surroundings, truck driver Charles Boling said “you can tell they put a lot of time and effort into this.”
There was also a lot of patience involved. It was nearly 10 years ago when Bartholomew County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop publicly warned that the State Street highway garage, built in the winter of 1952-53, had several deficiencies that made it inadequate for the county’s needs.
But a new highway garage took a back seat to several other developments such as debate over a county annex building, a new salt barn, a multi-year financial crisis, jail overcrowding, a narcotics crisis and addiction services.
The importance of a new highway garage surfaced again after a 2017 structural assessment that confirmed several serious flaws that couldn’t be repaired.
“It’s just outlived its life,” Lienhoop said at the time. Fellow county commissioner Larry Kleinhenz expressed the same conclusion.
That was the same year that the county’s financial troubles began to dissolve after the Bartholomew County Council agreed to raise their portion of the local income tax by 40%, effective in 2018.
But seeing is believing. It was after several county council members inspected the deteriorating facility that strong support for a new garage emerged, department technical supervisor Stacey Gross said.
One thing that alarmed council members were mechanics being forced to do outside repairs, often in sub-freezing conditions, while lying on the ground in either frozen or melted snow, truck driver Grant Arnett said.
In Nov. 2018, the county council approved issuing $6 million in bonds for the garage. But then, an initial cost estimate came in at $9.4 million. It took time for consultants and elected officials to whittle that amount down to an acceptable $7.1 million.
But the challenges continued. Next came drainage demands from neighbors, an investigation of possible wetlands, an inability to secure a significant contractor, lengthy supply chain delays and even some aesthetic mistakes.
But finally, construction on the long-awaited highway garage and headquarters concluded the first full week of December with the installation of telephones, computer links and security lines, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
Instead of one bay, the new facility will allow six dump trucks to be serviced indoors at one time with plenty of room to move around, said Johnny Cutsinger, one of four mechanics who works at the garage.
There are also lifts that will raise an entire dump truck, so a mechanic can stand and work on underneath the truck, he said.
The new facility also has the ability to power pneumatic tools, as well as a large storage area for parts, Arnett said.
“There is nothing we can’t do on these trucks now, so the repair costs will go down and the lifespans of the trucks will go up,” Cutsinger said. “We should be able to get the trucks in and out quickly.”
With three mechanics responsible for maintaining more than 100 county-owned vehicles, quick vehicle repairs are necessary, he said.
So does this mean the county will be able to clear off ice and snow from rural roads quickly? In terms of fewer mechanical breakdowns and the use of pure salt to more efficiently melt ice, sleet and snow, the answer is yes. Salt will be stored at different areas of the county, and the salt barn at the former location will remain in use, Hollander said
But you can only clear so many roads in a set amount of time if you don’t hire more drivers, he said.
“Basically, we have 15 guys to cover over 700 miles of roads — and that’s just clearing one side,” the county highway engineer said. “You also have to go down a second time on the other side of the road to clear it completely, which makes it 1,500 miles.”
The highway department could use more drivers, especially to fill in when someone is sick or on vacation, Hollander said. In addition, he said relieving an exhausted driver of a dump truck with a 20-ton load becomes a safety issue.
However, the county highway garage doesn’t have enough drivers to create shifts like the Indiana Department of Transportation, Smith said.
And because county taxpayers have just invested millions into the new facility, neither Smith nor Hollander feel now is a good time to propose hiring additional drivers.
One of the most positive things about the new county highway garage is that it makes the employees — who worked several years in drab, dilapidated and inefficient surroundings — feel more valued by the county, Gross said.
“This is going to be a whole lot better,” Gross said. “I think morale has kicked up a little.”
