Washington staff urge replacing aging jetter truck to meet IEPA cleaning demands

Public Works Director Brian Rittenhouse told the Washington council on March 10 that the city's jetter (vac-con) truck is six years old and that staff recommend replacing it to meet routine and IEPA-mandated sanitary sewer cleaning and televising workloads.

Rittenhouse said the replacement is currently budgeted in the municipal vehicle replacement fund (MURF) at about $391,000 and presented two Sourcewell quotes (roughly $348,000 and $364,000 depending on options). He explained that specialized units have long lead times (8–12 months) and that waiting until a failure could increase costs and reduce trade-in value. "If ours breaks down and then we have to do it, then it's going to be an issue," Rittenhouse said, noting the unit is used regularly for sewer cleaning, emergency response to backups, investigations and hydro-excavation.

Council members debated a buy-versus-wait approach. Supporters argued the unit pays for itself by avoiding high contractor hourly costs and by preserving trade-in value; one councilor said outsourcing routine cleaning might be an option to explore but warned that contractors may not be available for emergencies. Other council members expressed concern about spending in the current budget cycle and asked for warranty comparisons, usage maps and cost benchmarking versus contracting. Staff said the MURF has been accumulating payments and that known trade-in credits would reduce net purchase impact on the fund.

Next steps: staff will proceed with procurement planning and return final vendor/warranty details and financing mechanics to the council; council direction favored moving forward to avoid losing trade-in value and to ensure capacity for mandated sewer cleaning.