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Finance Committee forwards plan to purchase two plow trucks after Freightliner wins low bid
Summary
The Finance Committee voted to forward a staff recommendation to the full council to purchase two fully outfitted plow trucks from Freightliner of Maine after Freightliner emerged as the low bidder; committee members pressed staff on tariffs, model years and delivery timing.
The Finance Committee voted to forward to the full council a staff recommendation to buy two fully outfitted tandem-axle plow trucks from Freightliner of Maine, after staff said Freightliner was the overall low bidder once other vendors added a $7,000-per-truck tariff.
Stephanie Kimbo, the staff presenter, said the city’s RFP requested pricing for two configurations (a dump side body and a hook-lift body). Three vendors submitted bids with multiple configuration options; Public Works recommended buying one of each configuration and noted the department requested capital funds to cover the purchase, with a small shortfall to be covered by reallocating funds from a completed, under-budget project.
Fleet Director Mike Moore answered committee questions about timing, saying model-year 2026 trucks are in production now and model-year 2027 units are being built in the spring; he said the department expects a roughly 12-week turnaround for the ordered trucks. Moore also described following up with vendors after one dealer presented a $7,000 tariff per truck and said Freightliner told staff it would hold its price for the city: “Freightliner said, no. We’re gonna hold our price because they already built in a little bit and said we’re not gonna change the price for the city,” Moore said.
A committee member asked why bids opened Oct. 2 were being awarded on Dec. 1; staff said the city’s RFP allows vendors to hold prices for 90 days, and in-depth review and scheduling pushed the award date back a couple of weeks. Committee members also asked whether deferred projects (a large loader steel plow and a stump grinder were cited by staff) would return as separate budget requests; staff said the funds were rearranged internally and the deferred projects would be postponed rather than immediately returning as new budget asks.
A motion to forward the staff recommendation to the full council passed on a second and the purchase will appear on the next council agenda for final approval.
