HOULTON, Maine — The town of Houlton is in the market for a new street sweeper after the Public Works Department discovered multiple failings on its current vehicle.
Councilors learned of the equipment need during a Monday, June 27, council meeting as Public Works Director Chris Stewart pleaded his case for a new vehicle.
“Over the past several years, Houlton Public Works has been doing everything mechanically possible to keep our street sweeper operating efficiently and safely,” Stewart said. “This has proven to be a huge challenge with many hurdles to navigate over.”
The vehicle, a 2003 Johnston J3000 Street Sweeper, was purchased as a demo unit nearly 20 years ago and is no longer usable after workers discovered several cracks in the vehicle’s frame. Additionally, the unit has problems with its starter and brake system.
“While the head mechanic was looking into several different issues, he noticed that the rear end frame that drives the machine is cracked in a couple of places, causing the drive motor bolts on the rear end to break off,” Stewart said. “We are currently not capable of completing any street sweeping whatsoever.”
The vehicle was operated by Louis Blanchette for many years, until Fred Craig took over driving the sweeper when Blanchette died.
The public works department’s busiest times of the year for clearing streets is typically in the spring, after the snow melts and autumn once the leaves begin to fall. It is also not uncommon for the unit to be used to clean up debris spills in the town’s roads.
Stewart said the day following Midnight Madness is also one of the busiest times for cleanup in the downtown area as the street typically is littered with trash.
The acquisition has been on the capital improvement plan for several years now, but has never been approved.
At a cost of more than $300,000 to replace, town councilors were hesitant to approve any such expenditure. A 2022 machine was estimated to cost $308,000, while a 2020 demo unit could be acquired for $277,000.
Councilor Dennis Harmon suggested the town try to find grant funding to assist with the purchase, but Stewart said that process could take a long time to be successful, if at all.
No action was taken on Stewart’s request. For now, the town will contract with Steelstone Industries for street cleaning. Immediate cleanup of spills will be done with brooms and shovels.
Stewart also told the council that a 2014 F-250 truck used by both Public Works and the Houlton Parks and Recreation departments, needs considerable body work after a large rust area was found.
In the winter months, the truck is used by the parks and recreation department to salt sidewalks around town-owned buildings. The salt from those buckets may be to blame for eating away at the truck’s bedliner.
The truck itself is in relatively good condition, with just $41,000 miles on it, Stewart said. He offered a plan to replace the truck bed with aluminum sides, which would cost around $5,500. Councilors agreed to Stewart’s request, taking the money out of the town’s surplus account.
In other council business, the board accepted a bid from Dead River of Houlton to furnish the town’s supply of gasoline, No. 2 fuel oil and kerosene. Dead River’s bid equated to the town paying about 21 cents over rack price.
The council also accepted a low bid of $5.93 per cubic yard of winter sand picked up by the town’s Public Works Department; and $9.93 per cubic yard delivered from Brown Construction Inc.
