Mar 18, 2013 2 min read

Washington City Council is taking immediate action to clean up its streets. It is purchasing a street sweeper.

At a special meeting Monday, City Council agreed to award a bid for a used, 2009 Elgin street sweeper.

Councilman Matt Staniszewski, who chairs the city’s street department, said once the sweeper is received a city-wide schedule will be put into place to address all the streets in Washington. He said streets will be cleaned year-round, weather permitting.

The new sweeper will cost $118,8000 and is being purchased from A&H Equipment Co. of Bridgeville. It comes with a three-year maintenance agreement.

Staniszewski said the last sweeper the city owned was 22 years old. The city had been renting a street sweeper in April and May in recent years to rid streets of the winter deposits of dirt, cinders and salt.

Council discussed ways to pay for the sweeper. Joe Manning, head of the city’s accounts and finances department, said he believed with the Act 13 impact fee Local Share Allotment, and state liquid fuels funds the city could purchase the sweeper without taking on any additional debt.

The city had earmarked $30,000 as a down payment for replacing the sweeper in its capital improvement fund for 2013. And Councilman Terry Faust noted they also could use the $6,000 they had set aside to rent a sweeper for the year.

Manning plans to make a recommendation to council on funding the purchase at the next regular meeting.

Staniszewski thanked everyone for working together to make the purchase possible, saying he believes residents will be happy too once the new equipment begins working.