COLTS NECK - The gleaming new Ford F-350 chassis cab came primed to be a workhorse of a public works fleet. It was equipped with four-wheel drive, a 9-foot dump that holds two thirds of a cubic yard of material and the biggest snow plow available from the manufacturer.

The truck, painted "green gem" just like virtually all of Colts Neck's public works fleet, had only 13 miles on it when assistant foreman Gus Baxes signed its delivery receipt on Jan. 24.

The one problem with the $50,210 truck? Two weeks earlier, Colts Neck laid off the majority of the public works employees intended to drive it.

The truck is among a list of nearly $575,000 worth of vehicles and equipment Colts Neck leaders agreed to purchase in May 2018.

But Mayor Tom Orgo Sr. said the decision to replace Department of Public Works equipment, including some trucks that he estimated were 20 years old, came long before township officials decided to layoff 60 percent of its public works staff.

"They were breaking down like crazy. We were towing them off the streets quite a bit," he said.

"It's government. It takes a year to do something when it comes to buying equipment. It’s got to be in the budget," he said. "It’s not like we went out and bought pickups and the next day, 'Aw, we're going to get rid of the road department.' It’s not like that at all."

Regardless, Colts Neck is left with an abundance of new equipment and a dearth of employees to use them.

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The Township Committee approved the purchase of six new vehicles, at least four of which public records show have been paid for and delivered. The township's DPW staff, however, now totals six — including a part-time mechanic and secretary.

Public records show Colts Neck also bought Ford F350s in 2014 and 2016, plus two International trucks in 2014, which would give the public works department more trucks than it has staffers.

The township also purchased $43,000 worth of mowing equipment through the summer and fall, including a new tractor, two zero-turn riding mowers, two push mowers, three string trimmers, a push edger and a leaf blower.

Now, because of the layoffs, the township has to go to private firms to handle its greenery. It is currently soliciting bids for lawn and field maintenance.

What did the township buy? Check out the video below to see more.

Orgo said he didn't know if the conversation had come up about what to do with the equipment now that the township has a smaller DPW staff.

Colts Neck administrator Kathleen Capristo wrote in an email, "all recently purchased vehicles and equipment for the township’s Department of Public Works will be fully utilized by the existing staff to provide the necessary services to Colts Neck residents."

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Public records request confirm Colts Neck purchased at least $254,000 of equipment from the spending authorized in the spring.

Capristo wrote that equipment budgeted that was not needed because of the layoffs were not purchased, but would not answer questions about what purchases the township nixed.

Colts Neck officials said it expected to save $450,000 a year through its public works reorganization. The township in a statement to residents said it would still provide the same services using agreements with neighboring communities and private contractors.

Officials with Monmouth County and Howell, which have shared service agreements with Colts Neck, told the Asbury Park Press those deals did not entail taking over the work of Colts Neck's laid-off staffers.

One of the private contracts, for snow plowing, is with a landscaping company owned by a township advisory board member who works with Orgo's son to plow.

Colts Neck briefly posted job openings for full-time, seasonal public works staffers with work to start immediately, but pulled the ad when it threatened a potential settlement with CWA Local 1075, which represents the laid-off union staffers.

That potential settlement agreement would end several challenges CWA Local 1075 has against the township with the Public Employees Relations Commission and in Monmouth County Superior Court over the layoffs.

That deal, which the township committee approved March 13, would offer the laid off workers up to 20 weeks of severance pay, instead of the eight weeks the township initially offered.

Those employees would have rights to be recalled for new DPW jobs until March 31, 2020, including the seasonal jobs.

CWA Local 1075 President Kevin Tauro said he was confident the union would have prevailed in its legal challenges, but that union workers would have been left without an income during likely lengthy court proceedings.

"They have families they have to feed," he said.

At least two former Colts Neck workers have found new public works jobs in other towns and several more have decided to retire, he said.

Susanne Cervenka: @scervenka; 732-643-4229; scervenka@gannettnj.com

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