- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Clearlake City Council puts off street sweeper purchase
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council has decided to put off the purchase of a new street sweeper and instead work with the city’s franchise waste hauler, which is offering to step up to help.
The council held the discussion at its June 27 meeting. Originally, the council and staff had begun discussing equipment purchases earlier this spring, as Lake County News has reported.
The discussion begins in the video above at the 33:25 minute mark.
Thanks to Measure V road sales tax proceeds, the city has ramped up road projects and has been able to purchase new equipment.
Public Works Superintendent Mike Baker went over potential costs for a street sweeper. The least expensive was a used 2012 model for $128,199, while the most expensive, a 2019 sweeper, was priced at $438,000.
Staff said the city is working with its franchise waste hauler, C&S Waste Solutions, which already is doing 18 miles of street sweeping as part of its contract with the city. The company is willing to increase that to 23 miles at no additional cost, and work with the city to add other streets in the future.
Street sweeping is important, Baker explained, because it’s necessary to do as part of road repair preparation. He said it took his crew several days to sweep and clean to do pothole repairs.
While the city can afford to purchase a street sweeper, Baker recommended continuing to work with C&S Waste Solutions instead. “I think that would be a good move.”
City Manager Alan Flora said the company also has indicated a willingness to do sweeping more frequently, on a weekly basis. However, that weekly sweeping would cost the city $41,000 a year. The sweeping costs could also be worked into the franchise rate and passed along to customers in the future.
Flora said staff had hoped to see more reasonable prices for street sweepers. He said one of this year’s road projects is $200,000, and they would rather be paying for asphalt than equipment.
He also noted during the discussion that C&S Waste Solutions recently purchased its own new street sweeper.
The council reached consensus to take C&S Waste Solutions up on its offer for free monthly street sweeping, with staff to return at a later time with a report on conditions and whether more frequent sweeping should be considered.
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062719 Clearlake City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd