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Council discusses electric garbage trucks, charging sites and salt-shed move after Pittsburgh report
Summary
Munhall councilors sought more information about electric refuse trucks and a Duquesne Light request to move the borough salt shed after a local news report about problems with electric collection vehicles in Pittsburgh.
Munhall Borough Councilors used a May 2025 workshop to press staff for details about the borough’s electric garbage truck project, the costs of preparing charging pads and a Duquesne Light request to relocate the municipal salt shed.
The discussion followed news reports about electric collection trucks in Pittsburgh that remained at the dealership after alleged reliability problems. A council member asked whether money already set aside for electric trucks could be reallocated to buy a diesel truck if the electric vehicles proved unreliable.
Councilors and staff described three separate but related issues: the vehicles themselves, the site preparation needed for vehicle chargers and a Duquesne Light safety concern that the current salt-shed location is too close to power equipment. Borough staff said Duquesne Light asked that the salt bin be moved because it sits too close to its power equipment; that request is driving the search for a new site for the salt and for chargers.
Staff said the chargers and associated equipment included in the grant will not cover some site preparation costs. “To prepare the site, you actually have to put a cement pad,” a borough staff member said. According to comments at the meeting, the grant covers the vehicles and chargers but not the concrete pad and other local work to install the charging station.
Council members also flagged operational concerns: whether the borough would need to purchase additional land, whether the salt shed’s contents or the structure itself would move, how much additional staff time snow removal for a neighboring municipality would add, and how salt provided by a potential partner would be tracked and allocated.
Councilors said they will visit a factory to inspect the electric trucks and learn more about reported defects. Staff indicated the borough has not completed site work for chargers and that cement pads and other site-preparation costs remain the borough’s responsibility if the grant or vendor does not cover them.
The borough will return with firm cost estimates and options to the council. No formal motion or vote on changing vehicle purchases or on acquiring land took place at the workshop.
