La Salle OKs $323,830 purchase of new street sweeper

La Salle will be getting a new street sweeper.

The La Salle City Council approved Monday the purchase of a New Elgin Pelican NP Street Sweeper for $323,830.

During June’s budget hearing Finance Director John Duncan said the current sweeper is 18 years old. Life expectancy for an average street sweeper is 10 years.

Duncan said in June he plugged the $360,000 number into the preliminary budget because that is the cost of purchasing the sweeper outright and he wanted to have the funds appropriated for the city to have that option.

During Monday’s Finance Meeting Alderman John ‘Doc’ Lavieri said the city looked into other options such as leasing, but ultimately purchasing outright was the best solution.

City Works Director Kevin Fay said during the Finance meeting the new sweeper comes with a four-year maintenance package and a lifetime warranty on the hopper, which is able to be dumped into a dump truck.

Fay said the city still will have to change broom heads, sprayer nozzles and the belt inside of it. But, the larger equipment, such as the bigger broom would be sent off and covered by the maintenance agreement.

Alderman Jordan Crane said during the Finance Meeting after doing research, the biggest selling point for him on changing sweeper styles is the maintenance agreement.

“We have a four-year maintenance agreement,” he said. “After four years, if we don’t like it we can always go back. That, and it’s also $100,000 cheaper than our current style, so I think we should try it out.”

During council, Crane said he had done a thorough investigation regarding the street sweeper and believes its poor condition was not a result of any outside factors.