The City of Newark on Oct. 27 approved a budget amendment to the 2025–2029 Capital Improvement Program and authorized the electric department to purchase two VersaLift bucket trucks under a Sourcewell cooperative contract for a total cost of $574,938, waiving the formal bid process in accordance with city code.

Badaz Patel, Electric Director, told council truck 101 is used as the primary trouble‑truck for outage response and street‑light repairs while truck 122 is the daily line‑maintenance/construction vehicle. Although both trucks have relatively low mileage, Patel said they have accumulated high engine hours due to extended stationary operation during field work, contributing to wear and concerns about reliability.

Patel said the trucks were scheduled in the CIP for 2025 but pricing came in above the originally budgeted amounts (about $225,000 per truck in the CIP). Council asked what would happen to the old trucks; Patel said Sourcewell no longer provides trade‑in pricing, so the city intends to auction the used vehicles via Municibid and return sale proceeds to the fund.

Council members asked operational questions about idling and engine hours; a staff member noted one truck had about 42,000 miles and roughly 6,000 engine hours, and lead time for new trucks is now under two years, meaning trucks will remain in service while delivery is pending.

A motion to amend the CIP and purchase the two trucks under the Sourcewell contract passed on a recorded vote, 6–0. The purchase order listed the contract vendor VersaLift through Sourcewell at a total of $574,938 as outlined in the staff memo.