BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio – Officials may soon need to add more spaces in the parking lot at the Belmont County Water and Sewer District.
The department is adding nine trucks to its fleet at a cost of $500,000. Some are replacement vehicles.
Belmont County Commissioners approved the purchase of four more trucks for the Belmont County Water and Sewer District at their regular Wednesday meeting. This is in addition to the five trucks approved for purchase in January.
On Wednesday, commissioners approved the purchase of four 2025 HD Chevrolet pickup trucks at the total cost of $234,376 through the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Contract. Two trucks will be replacement trucks and two will be additional trucks for the fleet.
On January 22, commissioners approved the purchase of five Ford F-250 pickup trucks at a total cost of $265,824 through the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Contract.
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Commissioners approved these truck purchases based on Belmont County Water and Sewer District Director Kelly Porter’s recommendation.
Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton tells River News Network that the water and sewer district tries to replace vehicles once per decade.
“The Belmont County Sanitary Sewer District tries to replace its fleet pickup trucks every 10 years. The following trucks will be replaced as part of the questioned purchases; 2004 Chevrolet, 2009 Ford, 2010 Ford, 2010 Chevrolet, 2013 GMC, 2014 GMC, and a 2015 Ford.”
Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton
Dutton explained that the county is purchasing a large number of vehicles now due to prior availability issues.
“Vehicle availability issues disrupted our fleet rotation over the past couple of years.”
Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton
Dutton says the county purchased the vehicles at Cronin Ford North in Middletown, Ohio and Valley Chevrolet in Wellington, Ohio through the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Contract.
Dutton says the the county expects all vehicles to be delivered by the end of the second quarter of 2025.
In other business at Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting, the Belmont County Commissioners approved employees from the Belmont County Department of Job & Family Services and the Water & Sewer District to travel to multiple locations within the state of Ohio for work-related matters.
Commissioners agreed to purchase of parcel of property in Peace Township from Emma E. Rice for $7,400 for the right-of-way for the Belmont County Engineer’s Department Glenns Run Road Bridge replacement.
Commissioners entered into a contract for the Belmont County Records and Health Department Building project with Grae-Con Construction, Inc. for $10,694,075 based upon the recommendation of Mills Group, Project Architect.
The board approved a motion to appoint Belmont County Commissioner Vince Gianangeli and Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack to the Belmont County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to fill an unexpired term. The appointments are effective Jan. 28, 2025 through Aug. 14, 2025.
Belmont County CARES program staff also updated commissioners on the program’s work with patients, community members and senior citizens.
