The Starke County Commissioners continued discussions on purchasing a new plotter for the surveyor and recorder offices during their meeting last week.
In a previous meeting, Starke County Recorder Mandy Thomason informed the commissioners on the current condition of the county’s plotter. A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Thomason stated the current plotter was purchased used in 2018 and that its software is now outdated. She added when the plotter gets hot it shuts down. It was noted it will also reject the proper paper needed for the machine. Thomason went on to say ink cartridges will be full but the plotter won’t acknowledge when it has been refilled.
In that same meeting, one quote was brought forth for the commissioners to consider toward purchasing a newer machine. It was an HP plotter listed at $7,190. After some discussion, the commissioners asked Thomason to come back to a future meeting with more quotes for them to look over.
During the commissioner meeting last week, Starke County Surveyor Tom Schouten brought forth two new quotes including a leased option for the original quote received. The first quote was for an HP plotter that came in at $13,367.99. The next quote was for an EPSON plotter that came in at $9,845.75. The leased option was a 36 month lease with Eastern Engineers for the original quote received of $7,190. The 36 month lease would be $149 per month for the county.
After some discussion, County Attorney Justin Schramm had a a few questions on the contract with Eastern Engineers. The commissioners went ahead and made a motion to approve the 36 month lease of the HP printer listed at $7,190 pending the answers on the contract. That motion was seconded and passed unanimously by vote.
