NORTH BATTLEFORD - The City of North Battleford has decided to lease a new street sweeper starting in 2022.
Council voted to authorize administration to enter a 72-month lease with a 10 per cent residual payment with Raymax Equipment sales of Calgary for a Global Sweeper Model M4HSD, with extended gutter brooms. The cost is $5,697.57 per month, PST included.
Previously, the city had been leasing a 2017 Elgin Sweeper mounted on a Freightliner truck motor and chassis from Joe Johnson Equipment.
This was the primary sweeper for the city, but the lease has now ended. According to Fleet and Maintenance manager Seton Winterholt, the unit suffered from breakdowns and parts were difficult to come by, due to the age of the unit. He urged council to move ahead with the lease agreement now to avoid further supply chain disruptions and have the sweeper on site and ready to go.
Three submissions came in from different suppliers that were evaluated through scoring, with the Global Sweeper Model finishing ahead. Demonstrations were also conducted with the roadway supervisor to make sure the unit was a good fit and would do what the city needed it to do. In particular, the gutter brooms will be able to reach around the chicanes downtown.
The city has the option to purchase at the end of the lease. There was discussion at council about whether it was a better option for the city to purchase the equipment outright, but administration emphasized they wanted to try the machine out first for a number of years and ensure it is meets their needs before making such a purchase.
Winterholt noted they wanted to ensure the machine was well built, citing instances in the past where they had bought machines that ended up needing costly repairs or having parts availability issues.
"We are very confident in the fit of this machine," said Winterholt.
