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Public works staff urge trustees to weigh repair versus replacement for failing plow truck
Summary
Staff reported a failing transmission housing on an International plow truck and recommended trustees consider replacement options; repair was estimated at a minimum of $7,500 and a Ford replacement was quoted at about $187,000, with $275,000 in the road and bridge fund available — trustees requested lease details and will revisit options on the agenda.
Public works staff told trustees a plow truck in the village fleet has significant transmission problems and asked the committee to consider whether to repair or replace the vehicle.
Jim (a public works staff member) said the truck'9s transmission housing requires a minimum replacement estimate of about $7,500 and warned the transmission itself might also be failing. He said the truck has had a second transmission and the vehicle operates under heavy load conditions that accelerate wear: “Those 30,000 miles are all slow, heavy, under load... so it'9s a little bit of a different stress,” he said. A trade-in value with a broken transmission housing was cited at roughly $2,000. Jim also reported he obtained a Ford quote near $187,000 for a replacement cab/chassis with a 10-foot blade (not the 11-foot blade used on other trucks) and suggested staff could also check Sourcewell pricing.
Trustees discussed leasing as an alternative to purchasing to manage the budget and recurring maintenance concerns. The chair and colleagues noted the village has about $275,000 allocated in the road and bridge fund and asked staff to clarify whether any available lease would provide a truck class and power comparable to the larger diesel plow trucks the village uses for heavy snow removal.
No procurement decision was made at the meeting; trustees asked staff to gather lease specifications and pricing and return the topic to the agenda for a formal decision.
