News

Elba City Council presented options for buying new garbage truck

The Elba City Council is facing the probability of buying a new garbage truck in the very near future.
Monday evening, May 28, council members heard Mayor Mickey Murdock cite three options available to the city.
One option would be to replace the old truck with one identical to the truck currently in use. Early estimates are that this would cost $135,000. This setup requires at least two people, a driver and a person to handle the garbage cans.
A second option would be a semi automatic truck that would be faster but would still require two to operate plus the cost of modifying the garbage cans. This truck would cost about $161,000 plus about $12,600 to modify the garbage cans.
The third option presently under consideration by the council is a fully automatic collection unit that can be operated by one person. The cost of this setup is about $167,000. There would be considerable savings with this option, and the savings on labor would continue year after year.
Murdock and City Clerk Jack Mullinax both recommend the existing truck be repaired and kept as a backup unit. Presently the city pays $500 a day to rent a truck when the city owned vehicle is broke down, which sometimes happens several times a month.
This old truck would still be used to empty dumpsters, as neither the automatic nor the semi automatic truck can handle these large containers.
Additional details will be prepared for the council members prior to the next council meeting.

Photo: Elba city leaders currently are reviewing options for buying a new garbage truck in the near future. The current truck (shown here) would still be used by the city after a new truck is purchased as a back-up in case of breakdowns and to continue to empty dumpsters.