Supervisors Approve $1.1M Bid for Four County Trucks

In the latest Winneshiek County Supervisors meeting, the supervisors received an update on the Festina Sewer Project, recognized Winneshiek County cancer patients, and reviewed a bid for four county trucks. Winneshiek County Celebration of Life The supervisors invited Julie Wurtzel and Margaret Walter of the Winneshiek County Celebration of Life (WCCOL) to speak about their work with cancer patients and their families. The duo also brought a request for the supervisors to proclaim October 2024 "Cancer Awareness Month." Walter, after a brief overview of WCCOL's history of service in Winneshiek County, told the supervisors that this year, the organization would be assisting over 80 individuals impacted by cancer in the area. "We are a board of trustees. We are very much aware of how we spend our money. Our joke is that we have to buy our own shirts," Walter shared. "Just about every penny you give us goes back to the community." The pair also noted the many fundraisers that support their organization. Most recently, the Oneota Community Food Co-Op facilitated a round-up at the register for WCCOL, and Toppling Goliath named a new beer for the group—"Galactic Warrior." "It's such an easy message to spread," Wurtzel added of the group's fundraising efforts. "Everybody deals with cancer; yourself, your family, and your friends. We not only ask for donations, but everybody here, we'd like you to go to our website if you know anybody [with cancer]. Our programs are listed in there, the applications are so easy, if there's anybody we can help—we would be so grateful to get those names." Supervisor Mark Vick made a motion to approve the proclamation with a second from Supervisor Steve Kelsay. The motion passed unanimously. Festina Sewer Project Update The next item on the agenda was an update from Tom Madden of SEH Engineering on the ongoing Festina Sewer Project. According to Madden, everything is running as planned. "From a visual standpoint, it looks pretty good," Madden stated. Madden invited the Supervisors to head to the project site and take a look at the progress. There, he could answer any questions they might have. "We've still got some 'shakedown' stuff we're going through," Madden added. "Controls [are] always a thing that looks great on paper, but once you implement it in real life, it's got a little bit of a hiccup, so we're still working on that with the contractor." Madden also told the supervisors that the UV system is having "some growing pains" and that the manufacturer is working to get the issue resolved. According to Madden, these two outstanding issues with the system will be fixed by the time the supervisors officially finalize the project. He also noted that every manufactured item used in the project has a manufacturer's warranty. The project itself also has a two-year warranty. Madden also spoke to the State Revolving Loan Fund and reported that he had been told that the county would be eligible for "some loan forgiveness" on the project. "It's somewhere between two hundred to four hundred thousand bucks," Madden elaborated. Truck Bids The final agenda item concerned bids for four Western Star 47X dump trucks for Winneshiek County. The two submitted bids came from Truck Country in Decorah at $1,186,660 and Don's Truck Sales in Fairbank at $1,136,620. Both bid amounts included four vehicle trade-ins. Gene Carpenter was in attendance to represent Don's Truck Sales, and Bobby Fredrick represented Truck Country. County Engineer Michael Kueny acknowledged that the trucks being offered by Truck Country were "very competitive" and that he had two more trucks for Fiscal Year 2026 that he was looking at purchasing. "I want to just make sure that Truck Country and the board is well aware of a good relationship there and that we can move forward that way," Kueny continued. "That being said—[for] the four trucks on bid—the price is $1.2 million. What we get out of the Allison Transmissions is something that we know. All the operators like these Western Stars with the automatic transmissions, and it's just a conservative point of view to get something we know and like for a cheaper price." A major factor in the decision between the two companies was the availability of the Allison 4000 RDS Automatic Transmission with PTO Provision, which Don's had been able to procure before they were sold out for 2025. Truck Country was currently unable to procure that model of transmission, but was able to offer the comparable Detroit DT12V Automated Transmission. Supervisor Mark Faldet asked Kueny to clarify whether the Detroit Transmission is an "inferior product" to the Allison Transmission or not. "The issue is that this Allison transmission is what almost everybody wants… The Macks that everybody is getting now have these automated manual transmissions that have better fuel mileage. A lot of the operators now want effectively an automatic transmission. Automated works that way, and so that's the way everything is going. We originally bid with an automated transmission requirement, but you can't get them because of current emissions requirements through the EPA. So, that forces a limited number of automatic transmissions to be available to vendors, and Don's can provide it, and Truck Country—my understanding is that their corporate wouldn't allow them to get them. It was a tough thing to come up," Kueny explained. After a lengthy discussion between the two parties, going over the pros and cons of the available models, Supervisor Mark Vick made a motion to go with Kueny's suggestion and buy the chassis from Don's Truck Sales, seconded by Supervisor Steve Kelsay. The motion passed unanimously. Feed your curiosity! Subscribe to the free newsletter and indulge in all that's local. Your friends will be impressed.