Medical Lake’s City Council voted 6-1 at their March 1 meeting to purchase a used road grader to replace the city’s aging machine, but not before questions arose regarding how to pay for it.
The city’s current road grader was 5 years old when it was purchased in 1967. City Administrator Doug Ross said talk about replacing it began about 10 years ago, but action kept being put off.
Parts for the road grader are difficult to find, if available, and the machine is no longer able to maintain the pressure needed to force its blade into the ground to move dirt when used in that fashion. The grader has been used lately simply to clear snow, but according to a staff report, because of mechanical and safety issues “it will not be available for the upcoming winter.”
The report also noted it’s been difficult for city officials to find a grader large enough to remove snow down to the asphalt, capable of being useful for 25 – 30 years and be affordable. Ross also said it’s been difficult to find a unit locally, decreasing transportation costs, but feels the city’s maintenance supervisor, Scott Duncan, has found one that fits the city’s needs through local equipment dealer Western States.
Medical Lake has a quote from Western States on a 2008 Caterpillar 140M Motor Grader. Duncan was able to negotiate with Western States to lower the quoted price from $159,000 to $145,000, bringing the total expense to the city to $157,615 when tax is included.
The city would split payment of the grader between two funds: the general fund and the water/sewer fund. Ross said the city has also applied for a $75,000 Risk Reduction Mitigation Grant through its insurer, Washington Cities Insurance Authority, as another possible funding source.
The city was notified by the WCIA on March 7 that its grant application was not successful.
The funding proposal elicited concerns from new Councilwoman Jessica Roberts. Roberts said she understood the need for the grader, but was uncomfortable spending upwards of $160,000 so early in the year when the potential exists for unforeseen expenses arising down the road.
“I would feel more comfortable planning for this,” she said.
“Scrimping and saving and ending every year with $900,000, that is your savings plan,” Ross said, referencing the city’s general fund budget that annually begins and ends short of $1 million through city staff’s budgeting efforts.
Councilwoman Shirley Maike said they had been planning for the purchase by budgeting conservatively.
“We don’t want to lose the opportunity for something this close,” Maike said. “It’s like, this is the time.”
“We have a million dollars, or close to a million,” Mayor John Higgins said of the general fund balance. “There’s no reason why we can’t spend down a bit. We’ll get back up.”
Also expressing concerns was Medical Lake’s finance director, Jennifer Hough. Hough said she and Ross needed to further discuss the amount taken out of the water/sewer fund, and noted that fund is typically audited. Since the city has only been using a grader to clear snow from streets, it could be a questionable use by taking money from the water/sewer account.
Duncan told the council the reason the current grader is only used for snow is because it lacks downward pressure needed to move dirt. Ross added that if the Caterpillar unit were purchased, it would be used as part of the city’s water main replacement projects.
“This new grader, we would use,” Duncan said.
Council eventually approved the resolution to purchase the grader, with Roberts casting the lone nay vote. In doing so, the council declared “special market conditions” to make a purchase without engaging in the bid process.
In an email, Ross said special market conditions purchases, allowed under RCW 39.040.280 (1) (b), exist when municipalities need to purchase a specific piece of equipment that may not be available “by the time the equipment goes to bid.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)