By Angel Perkins Staff Writer
ARGOS — Two departments within the town of Argos are looking forward to purchasing some new equipment. For the street department, a new “patch buggy” was approved for purchase by the town council.
“The town is at the worst it’s ever been,” said town employee Monty McCollough in regard to the condition of streets around town. “We wouldn’t be able to have any of it repaired without it (the street repair machine).”
The “patch buggy” would allow street department employees to fill holes with “hot patch” filler which can be used in weather of any temperature and the one chosen to purchase is the same type used by the Indiana Department Of Transportation (INDOT). Money to pay for it will come from state funds allocated in the town’s Motor Vehicle Highway fund, not from taxpayer monies.
The machine is to be purchased from Northern Equipment Company for $11,138 and will take approximately six to eight weeks to receive.

The Argos Fire Department is also looking forward to two major purchases and is hopeful for another. Argos town council members discussed installing an exhaust system in the main building that houses the fire trucks. It would be used during regular inspections that take place every two weeks.
One of six teams of fire department personnel must start and run the vehicles during the inspection process and fumes build up as a result. One-hundred percent of the fumes would be removed with the installation of a system that is estimated to cost about $100,000.
The department has applied for a grant to assist with the cost of the system, which is a requirement by the workplace safety enforcement agency OSHA. “We’ve had problems in the past, before I came on,” said Paul Sterns. “Firemen had been overcome and had to be hospitalized.”
Sterns is the person pursuing the grant for its purchase but it was made known that fire department representatives are still waiting for approval or denial for a grant they applied for in 200 so any funds to be issued are not expected any time soon. It is anticipated that the department and the town would be responsible for 20 percent of the total cost.
The fire department plans to come up with $15,000 toward the purchase and the council agreed to pay for the difference, up to the 20 percent of the total. The Argos FD is also hoping for assistance through a grant, from the town and from the township trustee to purchase two new fire trucks.
One truck would replace the one that is 34 years old and would be paid for by the fire department. They would contribute $60,000 with the remainder to be paid for through the anticipated grant approval. The second truck would replace another, almost as old and in the next rotation (to be replaced next year) by the town and the township.
It was estimated that a new fire truck runs about $300,000 at the lowest. If the grants applied for to purchase the exhaust and both fire trucks go through, the total purchase price could come at a savings of $280,000 overall.