Equipment Review Committee

CITY OF MARSHALL EQUIPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES Monday, March 11, 2024 11:00 AM MEMBERS PRESENT: Jim Lozinski, John Alcorn STAFF PRESENT: Jason Anderson, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Scott Truedson, Wastewater Superintendent; Roger Cauwels, Collection System Assistant Superintendent; E.J. Moberg, Director of Administrative Services; Sharon Hanson, City Administrator; David Callens, Lead Maintenance Worker Chairman Lozinski called the meeting to order at 11:03 AM Consider Approval of the Minutes Motion by John, seconded by Jim to approve the minutes as presented. All voted in favor. Motion passed 2:0. Stump Grinder for Street Department Anderson began the discussion by stating the city is proposing the purchase of a stump grinder for the Street Department. City staff completed a demo on the two Vermeer units and the larger 70 hp unit did a great job, but at an additional $17,000 cost. The 48 hp unit is a little slower, but still does a great job. The current Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) includes $58,000 for this purchase. Lozinski asked how many stumps the city grinds in a year? Callens shared it is currently between 50 – 75, but that number will be considerably more in the future. Lozinski then asked how the Parks Department currently removes stumps and if they contract out those removals. Hanson stated that the Parks Department did contract out recent stump removals, but that was due to an emerald ash borer grant. The grant wouldn’t allow for reimbursement of staff time to remove the stumps but would cover the cost of contracting it out. The Parks Department recently secured a new grant that may allow for staff time reimbursement. Callens mentioned contracting out each stump removal will add up quickly. Lozinski asked if the city has investigated costs for someone to stump grind. Callens said it depends on the size of the stump and how many you are doing at a time, but it can range from $200 - $800 per stump. Anderson mentioned staff are currently borrowing an old (1970’s) unit from Marshall Municipal Utilities (MMU) and that machine is becoming difficult to service with limited parts availability, and city staff don’t want to be responsible for damaging their machine. City staff currently use the stump grinder about 75% of the time and help with the maintenance of the machine. Lozinski asked if the city has considered partnering with MMU on the purchase. Anderson stated that the city has approached them, and they are not interested at this time. Lozinski asked if city staff will allow MMU to use the new stump grinder if they are asked. Anderson stated MMU’s intent is to use their current machine until it is no longer in operation. Alcorn asked where the reimbursement for the park’s emerald ash borer grant will go and if that revenue could be used to offset costs of this purchase. Hanson said the city will look into if that is a possibility. Hanson shared the grant allocated $47,850 for labor reimbursement. Moberg shared the revenue will offset the wages of those doing the work. Moberg also mentioned that the city budgeted for everyone’s salary so the reimbursement for staff time will go into the general fund. Lozinski asked how much responsibility the city has for any trees located on the boulevards. Anderson stated the city is responsible for the removal of any dying trees located in boulevards unless the property owner wants to keep the tree and pay for treatments. Alcorn asked if there were any additional grants the city could apply for regarding emerald ash borer. Hanson stated the city will continue to apply for any available grants they find. Alcorn asked if emerald ash borer was a local or national issue. Hanson stated that it is a national problem. Callens mentioned that there are a lot of trees within Marshall that are infected with emerald ash borer disease. Lozinski stated he would make a motion to approve the request if Moberg provides an explanation of where the extra $5,752.27 will come from to help cover the remaining cost of the purchase of the grinder. Moberg explained he will share with City Council that the extra cost will be taken from the CIP fund balance.  Equipment Review Committee – March 11, 2024 Page 2 of 3 Lozinski made a motion, second by Alcorn, to recommend the purchase of the 2024 Vermeer SC48TX stump grinder, to be purchased from RDO Equipment at the Sourcewell contract price of $63,752.27. All voted in favor. Motion passed 2:0. Dump Truck for Street Department Anderson began the discussion stating the 2024 CIP includes $239,000 for the purchase of a new dump truck for the Street Department. This truck is very similar to previously approved trucks. Callens mentioned all the specs on the new truck are the same as previous ones, but the price has increased a lot. Lozinski inquired if the city has looked at recent pricing as the price of other trucks have decreased. Callens stated the last truck they purchased cost $156,000, while a new truck today is up to $239,000. The department’s current truck purchased in 2004 is 20 years old. Alcorn asked if the city would advertise for bids. Anderson stated this would be bid out utilizing the specifications as presented. Lozinski asked if the city was better off going with a stainless-steel option. Callens stated that was originally included in the specs but was then removed as the newer boxes seem to hold up much better now and it would have been a significant cost increase for stainless steel. Alcorn inquired if the old truck has any value if sold. Callens and Anderson both stated the current truck still has resale value and the plan is to sell the current truck to help cover the cost of the new one. Lozinski stated it is the council’s job to ensure city staff have the resources needed to do their job to the standard that the public expects. Moberg stated the truck was budgeted to $245,000 with trade in value of $6,000. Lozinski asked if the city has ever had to do major motor repairs to the current truck. Callen stated they had not, but it may be nearing that point. Callens also stated that when the Streets Department is plowing, they utilize all four trucks, so if one were to go down, that would mean additional time clearing snow. Alcorn stated that if the current budget will cover the cost, he is in favor of moving forward with the request. Alcorn made a motion, second by Lozinski, to authorize city staff to advertise for bids for a dump truck for the Street Department utilizing the specifications as presented. All voted in favor. Motion passed 2:0. Drag Line Hose Cart for Wastewater Department Truedson began the discussion by stating the Wastewater Facility produces four million gallons of bio-solids annually. He shared the history of how the city used to dispose of bio-solids and the amount of time it would take. Truedson shared to dispose of the bio-solids currently, the city utilizes a dragline system to apply them to nearby agricultural fields as fertilizer. The dragline system consists of a large pump, an injection tool bar that is attached to a leased tractor, hundreds of feet of hose and a large cart to roll the hose up on for transportation and storage. Alcorn stated that this seems like a much more efficient way of doing it. Truedson stated while the city’s pump can pump the bio-solids longer distances we are limited by the amount of hose that we have. Cauwels shared that currently the city can reach 382 acres of approved application sites. By purchasing more hose, couplers, and another hose cart we would be able to reach another 128 acres of already approved land. Cauwels stated that one of the land areas the city was currently applying on, is starting to rotate crops, when before they only planted corn. This may impact how much spread of fertilizer they need, so the city is looking at alterative land options. Cauwels walked the committee through a map of another 80 acres of land that could potentially be applied on after site approval. Lozinski asked if the landowners pay for the application. Cauwels stated, yes, they do pay for the application. Truedson stated Wastewater staff have received three quotes for the needed hose, couplers, and hose cart. The quotes range from $91,901.20 down to $81,200.92. There is also an option to purchase a “one of” new hose cart that has faded paint due to sitting outside for a couple of seasons for $74,525.42. This option also includes the needed hose and couplers. Wastewater has budgeted $87,500 in the 2024 CIP for the purchase of this equipment and staff are recommending the purchase of the low quote of $74,525.42. Anderson also mentioned Hydro Engineering would be the preferred choice as that is where a majority of other equipment is purchased from.  Equipment Review Committee – March 11, 2024 Page 3 of 3 Lozinski made a motion, second by Alcorn to recommend to City Council the purchase of hose reel cart, hose, and couplings as per the included quotation from Hydro Engineering, in the amount of $74,525.42. All voted in favor. Motion passed 2:0. For the low bid. Other Business Lozinski asked to discuss the new skid loader for the SW MN Regional Airport. Anderson shared city staff are proposing to purchase a Bobcat S76 skid loader at Sourcewell contract price as they recently received a MnDOT equipment grant for a 70-30 cost split of a skid loader for use at the airport. The total machine cost is $65,417.44 less a trade-in of $22,500 for our current machine, resulting in a total outlay of $42,917.44. The total outlay will be split 70-30 with MnDOT, resulting in a local purchase cost of $12,875.23. These cost figures were provided to MnDOT at time of grant application and are essentially pre-approved by MnDOT. Lozinski asked why the purchase of a skid loader wasn’t sent out for bid. Anderson stated the city felt there wasn’t enough time to put specifications together and open it for bids as the grant requires a response by the end of March. Lozinski stated he feels that local businesses should get an opportunity to submit a bid for the skid loader. Anderson stated the primary reason for purchasing a Bobcat unit is that the city’s current unit is a Bobcat, and we already own six different attachments for Bobcat and three require electrical connection. Bobcat does have a unique pin connector which would require a cheater cord to change pin locations in each plug, which would complicate the use of attachments and the sharing of attachments across city departments. Lozinski inquired who would fix Bobcats in the area if something were to break. Callens stated that Sterling Equipment was the new Bobcat dealer located in Cottonwood. Alcorn asked if it was possible to still get a bid out. Anderson stated that the department can look into this, but they would need to confirm compatibility of their current attachments with a Case skid loader. Anderson mentioned the city hasn’t had any issues with the 2004 Bobcat skid loader they currently have. Lozinski asked Anderson to speak with Coudron on putting specs together and opening it up to local businesses for a bid. Anderson stated he would talk to Coudron, but the specs would need to be specific and call out that it must be compatible with the city’s current attachments to ensure everything works properly. Adjourn Motion by Alcorn, second by Lozinski to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor. Motion passed 2:0. The meeting was adjourned at 11:41 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Amy VanKeulen Administrative Assistant