The city of Clinton is poised to spend in excess of $100,000 for each of the next three years on its Public Works and Utilities’ sanitation fleet, financing a new truck while paying off needed repairs to another.
The 2012-13 budget includes the purchase of a new low entry sanitation truck and refuse body. The city received 13 bids at the end of May, with only four of them meeting the proper specifications. Triple T Parts of Rocky Point was awarded the bid in the amount of $190,278. Once the bids were tabulated, it was determined that the lowest bid truck was no longer available, so city staff recommended Triple T Parts’ bid of $190,278 be awarded as the second lowest.
The truck, a 2012 Mack LEU garbage truck, is not expected to be delivered until late October or November. The city will finance the vehicle at 100 percent.
Having a third sanitation truck would eliminate extreme use of one truck and improve collections scheduling, city officials have said. An older truck would be used for cardboard collections only and the new truck for daily collections, which will add to operating costs with maintenance and fuel expenses, but is expected to “improve our efficiency and allow our staff to keep the city clean,” city manager John Connet said.
The Council will decide how it is going to pay for the truck at its meeting Tuesday night, at which time it is expected to consider approving a resolution regarding financing terms.
The city issued a request for proposals (RFP) for financing services last month to four banking institutions and BB&T was the lowest bidder with a 1.57 percent and no origination fee. Staff has recommended the financing, over three years at approximately $65,000 per year.
While four were sent a RFP, just two responded — BB&T and New Century Bank. Both three-year financing plans, BB&T proposed 1.57 percent with no origination fee, and an annual payment of $64,973; New Century proposed 1.98 percent with a $150 origination fee and an annual payment of $65,381.
“Based on the received proposals, the most economical option is from BB&T,” assistant city director and finance officer Shawn Purvis said in a memorandum to city staff. “This proposal presents the lowest annual amount and does not include any origination fees. The BB&T financing option will require an annual payment of $64,973. If City Council chooses to award the lowest qualified bid for the truck, the BB&T proposal will meet the city’s financing needs and Council may wish to consider its approval.”
Those payments for a new sanitation truck will be coupled with financing for a truck chassis and loader remount in the wake of an April motor vehicle accident involving one of the city’s existing trucks.
The city solicited bids for a 2012 truck chassis with 2004 loader remount in May following a wreck in which a car traveling on N.C. 24 went left of center and struck the front of the sanitation truck, resulting in injuries to both drivers. “As anticipated,” Purvis stated, “the cost for the chassis and remount is significant enough to consider debt financing as an option for payment.”
Public works director Jeff Vreugdenhil said the cab and chassis were a total loss, but the garbage body could be repaired and remounted. The insurance company agreed to compensate the city $24,595 for the depreciated cab and chassis and $25,195 to remount that body. Minus deductibles, the total reimbursement to the city is $45,195, leaving more than $100,000 to be financed, he noted.
City officials said the total cost for the new chassis and 2004 loader remount is $157,000, with $45,000 already received for down payment from insurance revenues. At an approved three-year agreement, with 1.62 percent and no origination fee, the annual payment for the city will be $38,687.
Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 121 or via email at sicrime@heartlandpublications.com.
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