La Salle approves new $6,000 computer system for vehicle maintenance

La Salle’s public works department may have a new vehicle and equipment database by the end of the month as the La Salle City Council approved the purchase of a computer system.

Director of Public Works Kevin Fay said Tuesday he has been working on the project for a while now since the vehicle maintenance and management the city has right now is “pretty confusing.”

“Right now, we have it in filing cabinets and folders,” he said. “This would make it all in one database. Be able to keep up with our oil changes.”

Fay said he believed purchasing the system would benefit the city, especially as the fleet grows.

“When we go through a big purchase like we just did with the sweeper, we can kind of see how much money has been thrown into the vehicle and how much work has been done to justify the purchase,” he said.

The city will pay iWorkQ computer system $6,000, which amounts to $1,000 for training and $5,000 for the product.

Fay said the system comes with a QR code that will be put in each vehicle for the employees to scan, track, enter mileage and schedule oil changes.

“If you’re having issues with a vehicle you can just send it through this database to write directly to our mechanic,” he said.

Alderman Bob Thompson asked Fay who would be responsible for entering the data into the system, saying if the data wasn’t entered the program wouldn’t be utilized properly and the city would be wasting funds.

Fay said once it was set up it would be easy to use and the employees would be responsible for entering the data.

He said the city can expect the system to be set up by the end of the month.