Richmond council approves $289,500 purchase of Algon Pelican street sweeper, amends DPW line item

Richmond City Council voted Jan. 6 to purchase a new Algon Pelican mechanical street sweeper from McQueen Equipment for $289,500 and to amend the DPW equipment replacement line item to $399,500.

The purchase was presented by City Manager John, who said the city’s 2008 sweeper is inoperable and administration does not want to invest more money in repairs. "It has been giving us a lot of problems for the last year. It's currently inoperable and administration's reluctant to put any additional funds into the vehicle," John said. The council approved a motion to authorize the expense and later approved a separate motion to amend the DPW equipment replacement vehicle acquisition line item from $110,000 to $399,500.

Council discussion focused on timing, machine type and operational differences. Jim (staff member) explained the recommended machine is a mechanical-style Pelican rather than a pure-vacuum system. "The Pelican is a mechanical style sweeper... it strictly uses a broom and it shoots it up onto a conveyor belt and that dumps it into a hopper," Jim said. He told council the Pelican is expected to have lower operational and maintenance costs and a longer service life than comparable vacuum-style machines.

Councilor Wright moved the purchase, noting early delivery was preferable because the city's current sweeper frequently breaks down. The staff presented two procurement scenarios: (1) lock in the price now and schedule delivery after July 1, 2025, or (2) borrow from the general fund and take delivery as early as January 2025. The council approved the motion authorizing purchase with delivery as early as January and also approved the line-item amendment to allow the expenditure.

Staff said the DPW equipment replacement fund had a balance of $2,206,005 as of Jan. 6, 2025; the purchase would leave the fund about $83,495 short of the planned balance. City Manager John and Jim described repaying any short-term general fund loan with future transfers into the DPW equipment fund, with staff estimating repayment by roughly September of the next fiscal year.

Councilors asked about trade-in or resale value for the old sweeper. Jim said vendors initially offered $10,000 as a trade-in and staff will explore whether higher value can be obtained by selling to contractors who repair sweepers. "We may get that. We have to confirm that," John said.

The council also discussed the new sweeper’s performance on fine material and curb-line debris. One councilor said they were concerned the Pelican "doesn't pick up the fines" and noted Main Street accumulates fine dirt. Jim responded that while a vacuum-style machine may pick up the very finest materials, the Pelican will remove the majority of debris and be more reliable and lower-cost over its life cycle.

The motion to purchase the Algon Pelican and the motion to amend the DPW equipment replacement line item both passed. Staff will finalize vendor paperwork and confirm delivery timing and trade-in details.

Notes: Vendor named in the motion was McQueen Equipment; model identified as Algon Pelican with Autolube. The council made no change to the stated purchase price in the motion; the revised line item provides additional budgetary room.