The city of Athens will spend $132,000 on two vehicles for the streets and water departments if Council approves two ordinances.
The vehicles are a $105,000, 2-ton salt truck for the street department and a $27,000 utility bed truck with external storage compartments for the water department.
The salt truck is a $60,000 dump truck customized with snowplows, strobe lights and hydraulics for an additional $45,000. The funds come from the street department's annual budget.
The 2-ton salt truck will be purchased for $30,000 less than its retail price, but it will cost slightly more than the salt truck bought in 2002, said Street Department Director Andy Stone.
Because the requests are over $25,000, City Council has to approve the requests, Stone said. Council members could approve these two requests as early as Monday.
When one department can no longer use a vehicle, Stone said that he determines which department can use it.
The city replaces vehicles based on wear, not on mileage or age, and they have no preference for any vehicle brand names, Stone said. The city also employs three master mechanics to repair its own vehicles.
The three master mechanics use their expertise to determine when a vehicle is no longer usable. Vehicles that are no longer usable but have a value of $1,000 or greater must be handled by the city in one of three ways, said Water Department Director Nick Carr.
The city can hire an auctioneer and hold a public auction for the vehicles, include city vehicles in the Ohio University auction or sell them privately.
Private selling is the most popular method and was used to sell the last fire truck to a local volunteer fire department, said Carr.When the city does buy new vehicles, it buys them from dealerships that have won state purchase contracts. The state develops these contracts by listing specifications it needs in each of its vehicles and then accepts the lowest bid from one of these dealerships, said Carr.
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