New company hired to mow township cemeteries

By ANDREW MILLER Monday March 23, 2015 10:53 PM View Larger

Madison Township trustees approved a new 2015 cemetery mowing contract last week after some debate over whether to bring the work back in-house as a cost-saving measure.

At their March 18 meeting, trustees voted in favor of a new one-year contract with G.A.G. Inc. to mow township cemeteries at a cost of $285 every seven to 10 days, as needed.

Public Works Superintendent Dave Weaver said it has been years since the township has had a new contractor for these services. He said the previous contractor, Hardin Lawn Maintenance, is no longer operating in the area.

"We haven't had to do this in so long. We've had a great contractor doing this, but they are no longer working in the area, and G.A.G. came in only $10 a week higher than what we'd been paying Hardin Lawn Maintenance," Weaver said.

Trustee Gary McDonald said in light of all the budget cuts that have hit the township in recent years, he'd like to know if the Public Works Department could handle this work.

"Looking at the cost of $285 a week, this adds up to a cost to us of about $8,500 for the season, and then add in the Mennonite cemetery and it's a little over $10,000 for the year," McDonald said. "I'm wondering if the road department can handle mowing these because of all the cuts we've been facing."

However, Weaver pointed out that many of the cuts have also affected his department, including reducing his full-time staff from nine employees to five.

"Our issue is manpower, because of all the areas that we already currently mow, not to mention last year we had about 300 nuisance properties we were mowing, along with cleaning up trash," he said. "I need my staff to do road repair and we're just stretched too thin."

Township Administrator Susan Brobst also pointed out that Madison Township doesn't have enough equipment to add part-time or full-time staff members to take on this work.

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New company hired to mow township cemeteries