Travis County Commissioners Court
August 5, 2008
Item 26
Since we have you there, 26 consider and take appropriate action on notice of chapter 11 bankruptcy by semmaterials, lp and resulting impact on county road maintenance operations. I thought this should be brought to the court's attention because it does have an impact on us.
>> we did receive the attached -- well, I have not attached a letter. This is our supplier. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. They are one of two major suppliers of all of these materials in the -- in the metropolitan area, in the region. The city of Austin gets their materials from this company. So -- so basically they have told us that they have got a limited amount of supplies on hand, they have told us about what we can expect and -- and what we can expect is about two weeks more of materials before we run out of emulsions. What that translates to in hard, fast terms they will have to close down our paving program because of a lack of asphalted material unless we get another supplier. We have got about -- we are well into the program is the good news, about 80% of the paving done. At worst it will affect about 20% of our work program. The other side of this however is the same supplier supplies our contractors with asphalt. So when our contractors go to the asphalt plant they are going to be told it's not available so we can expect back around the other side our contractors are going to say, well, we contracted to do this work but we can't do it ourselves.
>> [one moment please for change in captioners]
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>> there's a possibility we could go on straight contract to get the same materials the way txdot does. Or possibly get some emergency supplies from a contract with the other vendor in town in the region. So we're not finished yet. We're still in discussions. Both with this vendor as well as working through the purchasing department to see if we can get an alternative. But we thought it was important enough to bring to the court's attention at this point.
>> joe, the 20% of the unfinished business as far as paving is concerned that we still have outstanding, and the paving season I guess is exhausting itself, my question -- let me ask this question: when is the end of the actual season that we can still may be aggressive and still try to catch up with that 20% that's outstanding?
>> Commissioner, don ward with road maintenance. Ky answer that for you. Typically it's related to the ambient air temperature. 50 degrees and rising fahrenheit, that's when you like to pave. You get cooler than that, have you some issues with your paving material or asphalt, that sort of thing. Our contracts usually go through October. We may be able to go a little longer. Sometimes we've extended it to November. It's just relative to the temperature. Ground temperature, if your road network and your ground service stays below that temperature, you really don't want to pave because you will have problems with it performing properly and staying in place.
>> if we decide to piggyback or partnership with other entities, joe, you mentioned the state of Texas, how long would that probably take if they have available vendors to deal with the shortfall of what we're dealing with this year on the 20%? And again if that's the case, will there be a significant increase in the cost of this asphalt because of this other person's bid it low because they actually goss caught up in the fuel increase. I'm assuming there will probably be an increase because of the fact that those vendors that the state may be dealing with may not have -- have made the necessary adjustments according to the fuel increase. So I don't know that. But there will probably end up being an increase in that, maybe. I don't know.
>> it's possible, Commissioner. Right now we don't know the details of the price that the state contracts, what they are and what they exist, and if we can piggyback on to them -- I'm also in discussions with the city of Austin to see if we can work through our interlocal to get with them because they're having same issues that we are.
>> they're working with the same vendor and another local vendor for some daily purchase contracts. They have a little bit broader realm in how they issue these contracts on a daily basis. So the street and bridge department there are now working on daily spot contract with the alternate vendor.
>> so we're feverishly trying to find an alternative supplier.
>> yes, sir.
>> and this funding from the road and bridge fund exclusively, no general fund contribution?
>> no, I believe it's all road and bridge. Whairks can we do today to help?
>> just be aware. If things change, we'll get back with you as soon as that happens so you know where we're headed.
>> are we see anything other areas, resource areas, necessary resource areas, that might be getting pinch understand this way? -- pinched in this way?
>> one of the things, just a side note, I did some research last week, the asphalt emulsion that we use to do our chip seal program is one of these materials that is made -- the polymer that actually goes into this asphalt is under a worldwide shortage. The state of colorado has now stopped basically all production of chip seal work because this polymer doesn't available and it's the same product that we use in our service. So there's some other things happening that -- not just with sem materials, but globally based on the oil issue.
>> are we identifying alternative vendors and alternative resources -- for a possible shortage?
>> yes, ma'am, that's what we're doing right now is trying to secure additional emulsions, different types of products, different vendors or suppliers.
>> some kind of roadwork is a bit more critical than other kinds, right?
>> we certainly would do the safety improvements first. Potholes --
>> we have prioritized that.
>> yes.
>> so the -- we think that in two weeks this will come to a head one way or the other.
>> yes, sir.
>> so do we need it back on the agenda in two weeks?
>> that would an good idea. Let's give you a status report in two weeks. Okay. Anything else on number 26? Two weeks would be the 19th.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, August 5, 2008 3:51 PM