Officials Hope Equipment Purchase Will Help Pothole Problem

The purchase of a piece of equipment should hopefully help Stephens County deal with its pothole problem on the roads, county officials said Tuesday.

Tuesday, Stephens County Commissioners approved the purchase of a hot tack trailer for $12,500 out of SPLOST VI funds.

Stephens County Public Works Director Tim Mitchem said that this purchase will allow the county to fix potholes in a more permanent manner, instead of continuously using a temporary fix as the county has been doing.

County Commission Chairman Dennis Bell said this equipment will help the county fix potholes, but adds that the weather also needs to cooperate.

“I know Mr. Mitchem is doing everything he can with them, but people have to realize that you cannot fix them in the rain,” said Bell of the potholes. “I think once we get this tack wagon up, get it going, you will see some potholes get corrected.”

Meanwhile, county commissioners also approved the purchase of two backhoe loaders and a motorgrader on Tuesday.

In other action from Tuesday’s Stephens County Commission meeting, county commissioners voted to award Fiscal Year 2015 to 2017 auditing services to Mauldin and Jenkins.

Stephens County Administrator Phyllis Ayers said that the cost will be $35,000 per year, which is actually less than the $39,000 that the county has been paying.

Ayers went on to say that Mauldin and Jenkins was the only firm that bid on the auditing services contract.

She said she reached out to other firms to see if they wanted to submit a bid, but all of the other firms she asked declined.