MAHONING COUNTY Engineer's office to buy new snow equipment

Some of the equipment to be replaced dates to the 1950s.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Engineer's Office will have new vehicles to combat snow and ice on the roads next winter.
The department will buy nine new dump trucks, two new tandem dump trucks, a wheel loader and a road grader, said Marilyn Kenner, chief deputy engineer. County commissioners approved borrowing $1.45 million this week to pay for the vehicles. Kenner said the engineer's office will repay the loan over a five-year period.
The engineer's office does not get its money from the county general fund. Its revenue comes from a state gasoline tax.
Old equipment
Kenner said the new loader will replace a 1986 backhoe, and the road grader will replace one from 1952. The department has three 1991 dump trucks, one 1988 model and eight 1995 models. There are two 1991 tandem dump trucks, Kenner said.
She said the dump trucks are primarily used for snow and ice removal. Tandems are larger than standard dump trucks and are generally used for clearing wider, four-lane roads, Kenner said.
Trucks that are in the worst condition will be replaced with the new ones, which probably won't be delivered until early next year.
The equipment taken out of service when the new machinery arrives then will be sold at an annual auction of surplus county equipment, Kenner said.