New street sweeper and new plan should improve spring clean up

It’s a commonly heard complaint each spring, as soon as the snow melts: ‘why hasn’t my street been cleaned yet?’

A combination of unusual storms and failing equipment ramped up that refrain in 2018, but Town of Huntsville staff are hopeful that a piece of new equipment and a new plan will curtail any delays in 2019.

Lee Ripenburg, Manager of Operations, and Joe Nicholls, Yard/Fleet Administrator, were before councillors at the July General Committee meeting to request approval for a new street sweeper for the spring of 2019.

The Town’s 10-year capital plan already includes a sweeper for 2019, at an estimated cost of $215,000, but staff were asking for approval for the sweeper at an increased cost of $350,000 prior to the 2019 budget cycle to ensure that it is in place before annual street sweeping program begins.

“It was expected that the existing street sweeper would have been used until the new unit was delivered,” noted the staff report, “but it is staff’s opinion that any additional repairs to the existing street sweeper would be a waste of funds and have decided not to repair it. It should be noted that industry standards for this type of equipment is an eight (8) year lifecycle and the current unit’s age will be twelve (12) years. If staff were to wait until the new year (2019) to go through the full procurement process for a new unit, it is likely that it wouldn’t be delivered until after the street sweeping program is completed as it could take up to six (6) months for delivery.”

The increased estimate for the cost of the machine is due to “various equipment related costs (ie. American parts and equipment) and the high value of the Canadian dollar,” added the report. If the machine were not in place by the start of the street sweeping program, the Town could expect to see “an increase to the Operations Budget for 2019 in the amount of $71,000.00 (double of the existing budget) for contractor services as the Town’s sweeper will not be available.”

Although he said he was in favour of the purchase, Mayor Scott Aitchison wondered if there would be a plan in place or other options reviewed to make the street sweeping process more efficient.

“I’m fully in favour of purchasing a new machine, I recognize the importance of it moreso in the spring when it seems we are always, always, always, really behind in getting the streets cleaned up,” he said, adding later, “If we are going to spend roughly $350,000 on this piece of equipment and it’s really only slated to last for eight years, that’s $44,000 a year in capital, plus you add into that your operational costs and staffing and fuel and maintenance… I realize this is probably better at keeping the dust down, but it is slower and it’s damn expensive.”

Ripenburg said that due to the amount of sand placed on roads throughout the winter, the Town will always need to supplement its own street sweeping operations with contractor services, and that staff works to extend the life of Town-owned equipment for as long as possible.

“If six, seven years is coming up (in the life of a machine), can we invest just a few dollars as opposed to replacing a piece of equipment on that exact timeline,” said Ripenburg. He said that technology has evolved and newer machines are faster and more efficient at picking up debris, and that staff would be looking at other options like brushing sand off into ditches in some areas.

Director of Operations and Protective Services, Steve Hernen, added, “I hear your concerns Mr. Mayor and we are going to have a full plan moving forward next year because our phones rang off the wall just like yours did and I told the crew we have to find a solution to this.”

Staff will also be looking at purchasing equipment as a group with other municipalities for better pricing.

Committee approved the request.

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