The Mower County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of two new pieces of equipment for the Public Works Department at a special session Tuesday afternoon.

Commissioner Mike Ankeny spoke about the finance committee’s recommendation to buy two tandem dump trucks. The trucks haul rock and other materials in the summer months but can also be equipped with blades for snowplowing in the winter.

The net cost for the change is about $310,000, which was already in the budget. The cost for the two new vehicles was closer to $410,000, but after trade-ins and auctioning two road graders, the net cost was about $100,000 less. Mower County Engineer Mike Hanson said he hoped the whole fleet could change over to the tandem dump trucks, because they can move faster than traditional road graders and also do the work of both a road grader and a snowplow.

“By equipping tandems with modern equipment we have a better chance of cutting ice and speeding up the fleet so we can put nine trucks on the road instead of seven,” Hanson said.

 

In other action the board:

—Approved conditional use permits for three parties. A permit was granted to Robert and Betty Jo Wilson for the creation of a new lot for a single family dwelling in Section 7 of Pleasant Valley Township. A permit was also approved for Brian Meldahl for an extended home occupation for Dawn’s Dog Grooming Salon in Section 7 of Dexter Township. A third permit was approved for a septic system in Section 5 of Austin Township.

—Approved hiring a part-time office support specialist for the county’s auditor-treasurer office. The budget had allotted for a full-time position, but Commissioner Tony Bennett said the personnel committee thought a part-time position would meet the needs of the office and provide a savings to taxpayers.

—Approved the hire of a temporary summer secretary for the extension office for 310 hours at $10.70 per hour.

—Passed a resolution for the 2013 spring road restrictions. Each year the commissioners authorize signage for truck weights on rural roads. This happens in the spring when roads are at their weakest, according to Hanson.

—Authorized a payment to the city of LeRoy of a little more than $20,000. The payment went to LeRoy, which is the administrator of a grant for rural fire departments in Mower County. The funds were a 10 percent match for a grant program for rural firefighters to buy new equipment.