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The city Finance Committee on Wednesday recommended full City Council approval of numerous purchases that are already accounted for in the budget, but in some cases are somewhat more expensive than previously estimated.
Here's a rundown:
• The city will get $25,794 on a trade-in of its current, 12-year-old street sweeper and pay $131,929 for a new one from Sanitation Products of Fargo. Public Works Director Pat Kelly said he typically tries to replace the street sweeper every 10 years, but with the tight budget has been trying to stretch some things. The central garage fund factored $120,000 for the new sweeper, but the fund will be able to absorb the additional cost, he said.
Council member Wayne Melbye asked if there was a possibility of buying a street sweeper that's equipped with a vacuum to suck up leaves. Kelly said one could be purchased, but it would cost about twice as much.
• The city will purchase a new dehumidifier for the water plant. The capital budget, via the water fund, estimated a $50,000 cost, but the low bid, from Grove Mechanical of Crookston, is $60,552. The Water Department Enterprise Fund will cover the additional cost. "We don't have a lot of experience with equipment like this, so $50,000 was kind of our best shot at a guess," Kelly said.
The city tried to get by previously with a smaller dehumidifier at the water plant, but Kelly said condensation and corrosion on pipes is still a problem in the spring, summer and fall. The goal is to let the bigger unit improve things, he said, and then repaint the pipes.
• The city will spend $30,000, the amount budgeted, on new equipment for the Eugene Field Playground in Sampson's Addition. Parks & Recreation Director Scott Kleven said he was weighing proposals from two vendors until last week, when a third vendor, Midwest Playscapes, emerged with a proposal that he said is the best fit. Kleven said the price includes 18 different play components, wood fiber surfacing, border, tax and freight. City staff would erect and install the equipment, most likely next spring or summer.
The purchase is part of the city's goal of updating equipment in at least one park per year. The Eugene Field Playground is home to the older, creosote-soaked wood equipment, something that the neighborhood's council member, Dana Johnson, said triggered numerous complaints while she was going door to door during the 2008 election campaign.
The equipment is designed for kids ages 5 to 12, Kleven said.
A potential monkey wrench is that a portion of the former Eugene Field School property will be used as a staging area for the contractor doing the final phase of the Sampson's Addition flood control project in 2010. City Administrator Aaron Parrish said distinct areas and uses will have to be maintained. In the worst-case scenario, he said, the new playground equipment installation would be pushed back to the fall of 2010.
The next two parks in line for new equipment are Maplewood Park in the Chase-Loring Addition and Schuster Park along Locken Boulevard. Parrish said the city tries to focus on parks that are fairly isolated from the big school playgrounds at Washington and Highland schools.
"It's nice to get good equipment in those places, otherwise those neighborhoods aren't really served," he said.
The city Finance Committee on Wednesday recommended full City Council approval of numerous purchases that are already accounted for in the budget, but in some cases are somewhat more expensive than previously estimated.
Here's a rundown:
• The city will get $25,794 on a trade-in of its current, 12-year-old street sweeper and pay $131,929 for a new one from Sanitation Products of Fargo. Public Works Director Pat Kelly said he typically tries to replace the street sweeper every 10 years, but with the tight budget has been trying to stretch some things. The central garage fund factored $120,000 for the new sweeper, but the fund will be able to absorb the additional cost, he said.
Council member Wayne Melbye asked if there was a possibility of buying a street sweeper that's equipped with a vacuum to suck up leaves. Kelly said one could be purchased, but it would cost about twice as much.
• The city will purchase a new dehumidifier for the water plant. The capital budget, via the water fund, estimated a $50,000 cost, but the low bid, from Grove Mechanical of Crookston, is $60,552. The Water Department Enterprise Fund will cover the additional cost. "We don't have a lot of experience with equipment like this, so $50,000 was kind of our best shot at a guess," Kelly said.
The city tried to get by previously with a smaller dehumidifier at the water plant, but Kelly said condensation and corrosion on pipes is still a problem in the spring, summer and fall. The goal is to let the bigger unit improve things, he said, and then repaint the pipes.
• The city will spend $30,000, the amount budgeted, on new equipment for the Eugene Field Playground in Sampson's Addition. Parks & Recreation Director Scott Kleven said he was weighing proposals from two vendors until last week, when a third vendor, Midwest Playscapes, emerged with a proposal that he said is the best fit. Kleven said the price includes 18 different play components, wood fiber surfacing, border, tax and freight. City staff would erect and install the equipment, most likely next spring or summer.
The purchase is part of the city's goal of updating equipment in at least one park per year. The Eugene Field Playground is home to the older, creosote-soaked wood equipment, something that the neighborhood's council member, Dana Johnson, said triggered numerous complaints while she was going door to door during the 2008 election campaign.
The equipment is designed for kids ages 5 to 12, Kleven said.
A potential monkey wrench is that a portion of the former Eugene Field School property will be used as a staging area for the contractor doing the final phase of the Sampson's Addition flood control project in 2010. City Administrator Aaron Parrish said distinct areas and uses will have to be maintained. In the worst-case scenario, he said, the new playground equipment installation would be pushed back to the fall of 2010.
The next two parks in line for new equipment are Maplewood Park in the Chase-Loring Addition and Schuster Park along Locken Boulevard. Parrish said the city tries to focus on parks that are fairly isolated from the big school playgrounds at Washington and Highland schools.
"It's nice to get good equipment in those places, otherwise those neighborhoods aren't really served," he said.
