White Co. Approves $800,000 Loan Towards County Paving Plan

The White County Commission approved an $800,000 capital outlay note for paving work on Monday night.

County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said the county has roughly $2 million in paving budgeted this fiscal year. Robinson said it was good timing to try and do as much work as possible.

“This year the bids for paving came in lower than they’ve been historically, I want to say in almost 15 years,” Robinson said. “We figured it’s never gonna be this cheap again to do any paving. So we figured it would be a good time, even if we borrowed the money.”

Robinson said interest will only be 1.5 percent, saying the money is in the debt service fund and will be paid back within a year. Robinson said the county paving plan for the year has already started, with the worst roads being targeted first.

“The roads that are paved are up to the highway superintendent and he’s got a list of roads that he has submitted,” Robinson said. “There is a plan and purpose to where the money’s going. It’s some of the worst roads, we’re trying to get some of the roads that maybe haven’t had anything done in a long time. So this is a good opportunity.”

Robinson said that prices for paving have been so low because of the competition among paving companies trying to secure bids. He said roughly $1.2 million was budgeted for road work, prior to taking out the loan.