Board OKs new city brush truck

The residents of McMinnville will see a much-needed brush truck scooting along the streets of McMinnville within a very short time. The old one will still be used too, but its days could be numbered.

After realizing the need was coming for a new brush truck, as the old one has now reached the ripe old age of 15, the Public Works Department budgeted enough to pay for the new truck and asked the Streets and Sanitation Committee for permission to send out for bids.

After receiving bids from several interested businesses, Public Works director Bill Brock inspected the trucks that fit the specifications given. Of those, the department recommended that CMI Equipment Sales, Inc. was the best bid received with the right specifications. The truck is a 20-foot, 2007 Freightliner M2106 with Ramer Knuckle Boom and is priced at $87,218.

Other bids received were not of the right specifications or were for a machine that was unfamiliar to the department.

?We currently use a Ramer and it?s lasted since 1991,? said Brock. ?It?s a very dependable piece of machinery.?

Instead of selling the current truck, it will be used as a backup and to haul any items that might damage the new truck. City officials passed a resolution Tuesday that will allow Public Works to purchase the new truck.