Minutes - Council - 02/19/2008 - Special

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COUNCIL BUSINESS Case #1: Consider Purchase of a Sewer Jet Vac Truck Director of Public Works Olson stated that last week staff talked with Council about the purchase of a sewer jet vac truck. It was noted that the quotations supplied did not include any sales tax; applicable taxes have now been added into the total. It was recommended at the work session on February 12, that this purchase be funded from the Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund and not be split between the Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund and the Storm Sewer Fund. Councilmember Dehen inquired if this would be used for the sanitary sewer and the storm sewer. Mr. Olson replied it can be used for both but the direction last week was that we use it primarily to enhance the cleaning of sewer lines.. He directed Council to look on the page in the agenda right after the quotes titled the Model Sanitary Sewer Maintenance Policy. That's where we were deficient so we felt it justified coming from the Sanitary Sewer Fund in its entirety. Councilmember Dehen inquired how often this piece of equipment would get used. Mr. Olson replied daily except not that frequently in the winter months. You would have to run water through it so it would mostly just get used in the summer months. Councilmember Dehen inquired if training will necessitate additional employees. Mr. Olson responded that initially staff was going to ask for one additional full-time employee, but we feel we would not need anyone new this year. We will have a seasonal employee to help out. He explained what the utility employees are doing and added that staff decided not to request a full-time person this year also because of down time in the Building Department. We can get help from them temporarily. We cannot use the truck much this year because it will not be delivered until about September or October. Next year we may ask for an additional full-time employee. Councilmember Dehen inquired if costs have been weighed against costs to which Mr. Olson replied yes. The City budgeted $300,000 in 2008 for the purchase of the truck with $255,000 coming from the Sanitary Sewer Utility and $45,000 coming from the Storm Water Utility (now entire amount from Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund). With an estimated service life of 15 years, the annual cost of cleaning - meeting the annual goal - would be $20,000 per year for the equipment and $8,100 in personnel time from the Public Works and Utility Departments. The cost of fuel and unit maintenance and repairs is estimated to be $5,000 annually. Under this analysis, the City would save $9,700 or 23 percent ofthe contracted cost of sewer maintenance annually. Councilmember Dehen inquired if that includes employees. Mr. Olson replied yes, because it's not a full-time employee. We used the amount of hourly time spent and feel that's a reasonable estimate. Special City Council Meeting /February 19, 2008 Page 2 of9