2010-06-21Regular City Council Agenda

Home Browse Search

- Council Agenda Item Cover MEETING DATE: June 21, 2010 AGENDA ITEM TITLE: Replacement of two ~2} Leaf Vacuums AGENDA SECTION: Consent Calendar CAN THIS ITEM BE RESCHEDULED? : No BACKGROUND REVIEW: Bulk leaf collection is a service provided to City residents in the Spring and Fall seasons. During this time, residents may rake their leaves to the curb adjacent to their property for city crews to collect and recycle. The Fall bulk leaf collection program now runs for only six weeks, beginning Gctober 25tH and ending the week of December 6th. liver 28,000 cubic yards of leaves were gathered this past season. Contractors are used during the height of the fall leaf season to supplement city crews who sometimes work ten hour days and weekends to keep up with the scheduled collection in designated areas. Two of the leaf vacuums are scheduled for replacement this year. Gur goal is to collect the leaves more efficiently and more cost-effectively. Gur leaf vacuum units currently on-hand are too small to handle the volume of leaves collected by the city, therefore we supplement with sweepers. The street sweepers are fast at leaf gathering and they leave the street surface clean; however, this activity is extremely labor intensive on these large street sweepers. When used in the intensive short leaf gathering operation, the relatively high dollar capital investment in sweepers requires extensive maintenance and parts replacement to work at optimal performance. The self-contained leaf vacuum units can be purchased atone-fifth the cost of a mechanical sweeper and are designed specifically for this use. The vacuums are larger, up-to-date, 25 cu. yd volume units capable of handling the high volume of leaves produced by University City trees. We propose purchasing a total of four ~4}units two this year and two in FY11 }and discontinuing the use of sweepers for the up-coming fall bulk leaf program. By utilizing larger vacuums, we will be able to reduce the number of sweepers needed in our fleet from five ~5} to three ~3}, which will result in a costs savings in both equipment maintenance and replacement costs. Bids to provide self-contained leaf collection vacuums were received from the following six ~6} equipment providers. 1 Partners Manufacturin Grou $31,000 0 2 Gld Dominion Brush $31,024 + $24 3 American Road Machine $33,818 + $2,818 4 Woolly's Municipal Supply $36,300 + $5,300 5 Key Equipment & Supply Co. $31,930 + $6,930 6 Midwest S stems Truckin E ui ment $50,060 + $19,060 June 21, 2010 I-3-1