BRISTOL, Va. – City leaders agreed Tuesday to buy one of two trucks requested by the city’s public works department – its first such capital expenditure in about two years.
In a 3-2 vote, the City Council narrowly approved spending up to $225,000 to buy a leaf-and-grass vacuum truck to replace one of two 1994 models currently in use. They opted against proceeding with the request for a new garbage truck, which has an estimated price tag of $215,000.
In making a motion to seek bids, Vice Mayor Ernie Sprouse said he could support either but not both.
“I’ll leave it up to public works to pick the greatest need and we’ll look at the other one later and do this one at a time,” Sprouse said.
Public works Director Tabitha Crowder said the vacuum truck was the most pressing need, prompting a second from Councilman Fred Bowman.
“Here we go off half-cocked again,” Councilman Jim Heaney said. He and Councilman Guy Odum voted against the purchase.
A Heaney motion to seek bids but not commit to buy failed by a similar 3-2 margin.
“There are tons of capital improvement projects that we will need to postpone because this is not a normal year,” Heaney said, referring to ongoing concerns about money at the local and state levels.
“I think the citizens are going to understand if we have to have leaf collection on certain days or postpone it,” Heaney said.
Heaney said he was “dumbfounded” by the council’s action, prompting Mayor Jim Rector to reply that he was “dumbfounded by some people.”
The city plans to advertise for bids for 10 days and hopes to have a purchase contract before Dec. 31, City Manager Bill Dennison said.
Doing so will mean a savings of up to $10,000, because a new federal emissions requirement that takes effect in January is expected to drive up the cost of such machinery, Dennison said.
It could take up to six months for the truck to be built and delivered.
Money for the purchase is slated to come from about $492,500 in unobligated funds remaining from previous capital improvement projects at the city courthouse and the Lee Highway bridge replacement, Dennison said. That money is restricted to capital improvement project spending.
Additionally, the city has about $102,000 saved from a landfill project.
The new vacuum truck is needed because the department’s existing fleet has been broken down for much of the fall, according to a Crowder memo.
“During this leaf season, we have consistently been three to five weeks behind schedule. There have also been numerous days with more than one vacuum truck inoperable,” Crowder wrote.
The city expects to collect about 900 tons of leaves this fiscal year, with its one newer, automated truck accounting for more than half of that total.
dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532
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