Council OK's purchases for street, trash departments

McCOOK, Neb. — With the McCook City Council approval Monday night, the city’s transfer station will now have four semi tractors to haul trash.

The new 2020 Western Star 4700SF Semi Tractor will be purchased from Wick's Sterling Trucks, Inc. of Omaha, Neb., using the State of Nebraska bid of $127,395. Funds set aside in the transfer station’s reserve account will be used to pay cash for this purchase.

The decision to purchase the semi came when the current older CAT semi blew its engine earlier this year and that type of engine is no longer made, said Public Works director Kyle Potthoff Monday night. A similar engine would cost about $30,000, with no guarantee that all of the components of the truck would work together, he said.

Last year, using a state bid, an almost identical semi tractor was purchased for $125,000.

The semi’s are used to haul trash to the landfill at Ogallala. The transfer station now has four vehicles, with two new ones and two older ones, the older vehicles having 900,000 miles each.

Other purchases approved by the city council Monday night were a used 2012 Caterpillar motor grader from Nebraska Machinery for $106,250, including trade-in, to replace the current 37-year old motor grader that’s used for snow removal/dirt work and a new 2020 Caterpillar wheel loader from Nebraska Machinery, using the current 1995 wheel loader as a trade-in.

A new wheel loader is estimated at $175,000. The city will use $40,000 in the 2019-20 budget for the first payment of the wheel loader, and finance the remainder.

Councilman Gene Weedin asked if the financing would be bid out as in previous financing plans for the city and Potthoff confirmed that it would be.

Both purchases are for the street department.

The motor grader and wheel loader will be purchased from Sourcewell, eliminating the formal bidding process. That’s because before approving these purchases, the council first approved an amended city ordinance that allows the city to use Sourcewell for buying equipment. Currently, any purchase of $30,000 or more must go through a formal bidding process. Sourcewell, a cooperative purchasing company used by other cities and counties in Nebraska, sends out “Requests for Proposals” and gets bids from national companies, making the bidding more competitive. Purchases from Sourcewell will still need approval by the city council and will be utilized for used and specialized equipment, with the usual bidding process used for other items

The city council unanimously approved the amended ordinance on second reading, suspending the the usual three-reading rule.

Finally, the council received and filed the information that $83,460 was used from the Water Treatment Plant reserve fund for an emergency purchase to buy a new 2019 John Deere back hoe for the water department.

The backhoe was bought from Murphy’s Tractor and Equipment in North Platte, Neb., with the trade-allowance of $22,000. The current 2002 John Deere backhoe had a hydraulic pump failure and the new tractor was delivered and put into service on Sept. 18, shortly after the failure. Although the mini excavator in the department is used a lot, the backhoe is indispensable for larger jobs such as water mains, said Jesse Dutcher, Utilities director.

At the end of Monday’s meeting, the only “Council Comment” came from Councilman Weedin, who reminded everyone that the “Big Give” is Thursday, with donations benefiting local non-profit charities.