Good morning,
Happy Friday! It was sure a cold and wintry week. While unfortunate, this change in weather did give us a chance at a “Wet-Run” for our winter maintenance team on Wednesday morning. Night patrol starts this weekend – just in time too. We are now officially ready for winter!
This week also saw some major administrative developments with both the new Main Yard Salt Barn and the budget.
On Monday night, the Scio Township planning commission unanimously approved our plans for the new salt storage facility. The next step is to present our detailed engineering plans to the Scio Township Board of Trustees in January. We are working hard to get through all of these hoops with the hopes of starting construction in the spring of 2023.
On Tuesday, Dan presented our draft 2022 Year-End Budget and the draft 2023 Preliminary Budget at the board’s working session. We proposed some big-ticket items in 2023 including:
- The salt barn ~$5 million for WCRC’s share, MDOT is chipping in ~$2 million
- Delivery (and recognition in the budget) of 11 heavy dump trucks. These trucks were ordered in 2021 and have been delayed due to supply chain issues. ~$3.3 million
In spite of these big and unusual expenses, we are planning to continue to invest heavily in our road system, our staff and our other financial obligations. Theses draft budgets will be voted on by our board at their December 7 meeting. I’ll share more details with you after that meeting.
Lastly, this week marks our last full week before the Thanksgiving holiday. Whether you are traveling or staying closer to home, I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful long weekend planned. I am personally grateful for each and every one of you. Together, we make a great team.
Take care and stay safe,
Sheryl
