Cheney City Council OKs equipment purchase

Cheney’s City Council authorized the purchase of $119,737 of equipment for the city’s Light and Public Works departments at its Sept. 10 meeting.

First, the council approved a request from Light Department Director Steve Marks to purchase a T590 T4 Bobcat Compact Track Loader. The track loader will be purchased from Bobcat of Spokane, which according to city documents has the state contract for this type of equipment.

Marks said the purchase was a discretionary request budgeted at $100,000 but not in the city’s 2019 budget. The department is able to afford the request through salary savings from not having permanent Light Department director since former director Steve Boorman left in September 2018. Marks was hired as director earlier this summer.

“The Bobcat can be used elsewhere too, such as with parks and recreation and public works,” City Administrator Mark Schuller told the council.

Marks added that the department will come back later to request money for a trailer for the Bobcat since that piece of equipment is not covered under the state contract.

Public Works Director Todd Ableman then sought approval for purchasing three electric off-road UTVs, one of which would be for public works with the others set for the parks department. The vehicle is needed because the wastewater treatment plant’s unit, an early 2000s model, went down and was “beyond repair.”

The total price for the purchase is $53,304 plus tax, with Powersports Northwest providing a bid of $17,768 each, lower than the state contract unit price of $18,380.

Each vehicle has a top speed of 25 miles per hour, with a 50 mile range on each charge, is four-wheel drive and safe for turf. Each can also be recharged using a standard wall power socket.

While casting a yes vote for both purchases, Councilman Paul Schmidt expressed concern about how they came about.

“I’d like to have these planned in advance rather than doing it mid-year and not in the budget,” he said. “I think these are good to have, but I’d just like to have a different process.”

Cheney elected officials and city staff are currently in the midst of preparing the 2020 budget.

In staff reports, Ableman told the council that the city’s newest well had been shut down effect Sept. 10. Well 3, redrilled this past year, is the only well producing water for the city’s municipal system since coming online in July, but was overproducing and contributing too much pressure to the system.

Ableman said they would be returning to using city wells 1 and 2, as has been the practice in the past, to supply water now that the irrigation season is wrapping up, with Well 5 being a possible backup.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].