Yorkville City Council OKs purchase of $72,265 seal coat machine

YORKVILLE – Despite some reservations, the Yorkville City Council has approved the purchase of a seal coat machine to perform maintenance on city trails and parking lots.

Aldermen voted 8-0 on April 11 in favor of Public Works Director Eric Dhuse’s recommendation to buy the machine at a cost of $72,265 from Seal Master in Streamwood. The budget also includes an additional $25,000 for the seal coat material and related supplies.

Two weeks earlier, with Dhuse absent from the meeting, aldermen tabled the proposal.

Council members were concerned that the machine would not get enough use, worried that it would be difficult to maintain and wondered if it would be more cost-effective to continue contracting out the work. But with Dhuse back along with a detailed memo, aldermen quickly authorized the purchase at the April 11 meeting.

“We are prepared and I don’t have any trepidation,” Dhuse told aldermen directly.

“If we can extend each of the trail sections and parking lots life expectancy by five, 10, or even 15 years by sealing them every five years we will save money in the future by not replacing pavement so often,” Dhuse said in his report.

“We currently maintain such a wide variety of equipment ... maintaining this machine will not be a problem,” Dhuse said. “Besides the daily checks, scheduled, and preventative maintenance, the most important item that needs attention daily is cleaning the nozzles and lines of the machine.”

At the end of the construction season, workers will perform a much more in-depth cleaning and check of all components of the machine.

“We perform this same type of work on paint stripers, mowers, asphalt pavers, tractors, trucks, chainsaws, pumps, vacuum truck and many other vehicles and pieces of equipment,” Dhuse wrote.

Storage of the machine at the cramped Public Works garage will be tight, Dhuse said.

“This machine will have to be tucked in a corner or out of the way indoors for the winter. We will make it work. I don’t want to pass up a machine that is going to save us money and extend the life of our pavement because we don’t have a designated spot for it,” Dhuse explained.

City street workers will perform about 39,000 square yards of seal coating this year, Dhuse said, with most of the work done in late July or August depending on the weather and our schedule.

“This will be a three-person operation including a driver of the machine and two assistants who will squeegee excess material, clear debris, load material, close and open trails, and provide any other assistance to the operator,” Dhuse said.

“By owning the machine, we will also be able to vary the schedule as needed due to weather or availability of the crew,” Dhuse said.

“We can also edge the trails a week or two ahead of the sealing to speed up the process,” Dhuse said. “We do not envision hiring any additional full-time personnel, but we may utilize seasonal workers on this project to edge and clean parking lots, as well as [use] full-time employees.”