(8/27) On July 1, Carroll Valley Borough received a check for $975,000 from
the Office of the Budget for the reimbursement of the new borough building.
The new building, which was completed at the beginning of 2017, cost
approximately $3.6 million. The Borough incurred savings through several
avenues, including a $1 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP),
which was received in October of 2016. This money covered the $70,000 annual
appropriation from the general fund that had been budgeted for the building
project.
Now, the Borough will await contact from a representative of the Office of
the Budget in order to schedule a closeout audit. This may take a few months to
schedule. The remaining $25,000 held as retainage will automatically be
released once the closeout audit report is approved.
In other Borough news, Council members voted to approve the purchase of a
new backhoe. The old backhoe, purchased in 2006, has mechanical issues, noted
Borough Manager Dave Hazlett. The backhoe could be fixed, however the Borough
would have to take the piece of equipment back to the dealer in order to have
work done and an exploratory estimate noted a cost in excess of $20,000 to
repair it. "Even if it was repaired," explained Hazlett, "the trade-in value
would not be improved."
The Borough received four bids. Staff recommended the purchase of a JCB
3CX-15 Backhoe with the Wainroy Swing Coupler. Their bid came in at $101,160,
with a trade-in value of $32,500, bringing the Borough’s cost to $68,660. Of
the bids, this was the lowest, but also offered the best warranty: two
year/2,000 hour full machine warranty and a five year/5,000 hour power train
warranty.
Although the Borough did not specifically budget for the purchase of this
piece of equipment this year, Hazlett explained that the Borough had intended
on purchasing a new street sweeper this year, which would have cost
significantly more to purchase. The backhoe was slated for purchase two years
from now. The street sweeper will be bumped to another year in order to
accommodate this higher priority piece of equipment.