Board approves $772,324 purchase of two street sweepers amid operational concerns

Adams County commissioners on March 25 approved a purchase order not to exceed $772,324 to buy two Elgin Broom Bear street sweepers from Joe Johnson Equipment LLC via a cooperative Sourcewell agreement.

Fleet operations manager Mike Gutierrez said two sweepers budgeted for 2025 have reached the end of their useful life and staff recommend replacing them. He presented list prices ($405,875 each) and dealer discounts; after a Sourcewell 3% and multi-unit 2% discount, staff calculated a per-unit cost of $385,999 and a two-unit not-to-exceed amount of $771,000.998 (presented on the record as $772,324).

Commissioners asked detailed operational questions. Commissioner O'Dorisio and others recalled prior reductions to the county’s sweeper fleet: Gutierrez said Adams County historically owned six sweepers; in 2018 the county planned to replace four but replaced only two and sold two at auction, leaving four total, of which he said only three were operational at the time of the meeting (one had catastrophic rear-engine failure with hard-to-source parts). Gutierrez said staff would like to restore fleet size and recommended the two new sweepers with possible future additions to return to a six-unit fleet to preserve spare capacity.

Janet Leguiz of Public Works cautioned that contracting street-sweeping services can be expensive and less efficient for some county needs; she said sweepers are used not only for sweeping but also to support road projects (crack fill, pothole repair, full-depth repairs) and emergency needs, and having in-house equipment provides 24/7 access. Commissioners requested an operational briefing; Public Works said it plans an operational update for parts of April or early May covering sweeping, drainage, potholing and gravel road maintenance.

Commissioner Pinter moved to approve the purchase as presented; the motion was seconded and passed 5–0.