With a small investment in new equipment, Nelson Township trustees say they will be able to provide nicer roads for less money in the years to come. Instead of paying companies to chip and seal the township’s 24.5 miles of roads, the trustees decided to buy their own road equipment.
Three pieces of equipment cost some $12,000, including transporting the machinery from southern Ohio, Trustee Joe Leonard said.
Leonard said the equipment paid for itself in the first mile and a half of chip seal. Nelson can usually afford to chip and seal about three miles of roads each year. This year they paved more than double that, and next year may be even better.
Continuing to count pennies, Nelson’s road crew built a storage building for the equipment at Pixley Park on state Route 305, near the township maintenance garage and salt barn. That resulted in even more savings as trustees did not need to hire a contractor, Leonard said.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.