COQUILLE - The Coos County Road Department has its equipment wish list ready and wants the Board of Commissioners to approve the purchases by the end of June. The department also is preparing to unload some of its old machinery.

"It's what is best for the county - best for the road department to do tasks efficiently," Coos County Roadmaster John Rowe said.

Tentatively, the price tag on the new equipment is around $720,000. The original cost was $766,000, but Rowe said some of the estimates seem too high. As proposals come in, the department may cut costs.

The roadmaster said the large upfront investment - the department also has plans for about $495,000 in equipment purchases in the 2009-10 budget - will pay off in efficient use of labor and less maintenance time and expense.

For example, the department wants to replace an old brush cutter it has spent $142,000 maintaining in recent years. A new one wouldn't cost much more than that, Rowe said. New equipment will spend less time in the county shop and if something does go wrong, it will be under warranty, he said.

"We know that a lot of the equipment needs to be replaced," Commission Chairwoman Nikki Whitty said, as Rowe presented his list to commissioners this week.

She, too, is concerned about the expense and time the road crew has to put keeping its equipment functional, but she agrees new equipment is necessary.

"What they are getting is no more efficient than what they have," former road worker Dennis Backman said.

The county laid off Backman and 21 others in January. However, Rowe said, at that time the equipment money was already in the budget, meaning money saved in layoffs isn't being spent for equipment.

Backman said upgrades may be necessary, but he doesn't see a good reason for buying new equipment in this troubled economy.

Rowe contends some of the upgrades are just of matter of playing catch up to what the private companies have had for years. He said a new small excavator and attachments the county is considering could be used for five different tasks, including excavating, ditching, compacting, augering and brush cutting.

"That's going to be a well-used machine," he said. "It will never sit idle."

Even with more efficient equipment, Backman told commissioners Wednesday he believes there won't be enough people to do the work. He said some jobs, such as grading, may require five people and other tasks, at least three.

Whitty said Backman made a valid point.

"John needs to be a little more clear about what work needs to be done," she said of the roadmaster's proposal.

"We have enough people," Rowe said. "This stuff will get used."

The commissioners didn't approve any purchases, but opted for another unscheduled meeting to find out whether the department has enough people to run the equipment and what work will be done with the machinery.

"There were some good questions asked," Whitty said.