The Meriwether County Board on Oct. 28 authorized staff to proceed with a lease‑purchase plan to acquire paving equipment and approved a direction to perform the countywide pavement assessment in‑house rather than contracting EMC Engineering for $45,000.

County staff presented a financing offer from Republic First National for $820,933.50 to purchase equipment from Reynolds Warren under a lease‑to‑own agreement with an APR of 4.93%. Staff said the total repayment schedule would begin Oct. 28, 2026, and run in annual installments; funding is to come from T‑SPLOST allocations. Commissioners approved the purchase authorization and asked staff to negotiate or return information on extended warranty/maintenance options that would cover equipment for the life of the lease.

On pavement assessment, Public Works director Brian Griffin explained the tradeoffs between contracting the task to EMC (faster: contractor crew and a 3‑person field team) versus performing the inventory and PASER‑style assessment in‑house (slower but repeatedly comparable and staffed by county personnel). Griffin said he could complete an in‑house assessment by mid‑January if the board accepted that timeline. The board voted to proceed in‑house and to reject the EMC task order, with the expectation staff would provide road‑condition data and a schedule for a January work session to prioritize repairs and funding.

Staff and commissioners discussed staff capacity, procurement timing for equipment, warranty options, training and whether to begin certain small paving projects before full equipment delivery. Commissioners also approved purchase of certain Public Works vehicles at the meeting to support in‑house operations.