Politics & Government

Public Works Crews Getting More Than $200,000 in New Equipment

Trustees authorized the purchase of a new street sweeper to be shared with Shorewood, and a pick-up truck and lawn mower.

Whitefish Bay's Department of Public Works is getting a new street sweeper, mower and pick-up truck — all of which were accounted for in this year's budget.

Street sweeper

Whitefish Bay approved purchasing the new street cleaner Monday, continuing a past agreement of sharing the sweeper and splitting all costs, including maintenance, .

Find out what's happening in Whitefish Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The villages' current 1999 Tymco model street sweeper is being replaced with a 2012 Tymco that costs $170,270 after trading in the old street sweeper for $23,000.

This is the third time Whitefish Bay and Shorewood have partnered in a sweeper purchase. Shorewood budgeted $110,000 for the new sweeper and will spend $85,000 on a new sweeper. Whitefish Bay budgeted $115,000 for the street sweeper and will spend $85,135.

Find out what's happening in Whitefish Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The village acquired one lower street sweeper bid of $148,388, but Village Engineer Dan Naze suggested going with the Tymco because the company has several beneficial features not offered by other companies and the truck is the quietest of the four available trucks — .

Lawn mower

The Village Board also OK'ed the purchase of a lawnmower for $9,775. The new 60-inch John Deere mower will replace a 2003 Grasshoper model mower, which will be sold at auction. The John Deere mower was the least expensive of the six bids sought, coming in exactly at the price budgeted last year.

Pick-up truck

The village is also replacing a 1994 GMC 2500 pick-up truck with 176,000 miles on it with a 2012 Ford F250 Super-cab costing $26,797.

The pick-up truck, which would mostly be used for electrical work, needs to be replaced because it had five toolboxes mounted on the sides and inside the pick-up truck, and the new truck will have a service body with more room for equipment, Naze said. The truck came in $1,797 over the $25,000 budget, but Naze said the balance could be covered by the savings from the street sweeper.

Trustees agreed with the suggested $1,000 dark blue paint job to keep the pick-up trucks in uniformity. Trustee Kevin Buckley said the dark blue paint job could help residents determine whether a service vehicle is from the village or an outside contractor.

Resident Robert Crawford opposed the vehicle purchase, saying the current trucks should be driven until they break down.

"Whitefish Bay has the fanciest municipal vehicles you can find any place," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Whitefish Bay