Skip to content

Campbell River’s most heavily used vehicle to be replaced

The city’s most used piece of equipment in its fleet cost the city last year

City council has signed off on the purchase of a city street sweeper – one of the city’s most heavily used vehicles and which has been the source of problems since last year, according to city staff.

Council, at its April 29 meeting, agreed to spend $288,128 on the new regenerative air street sweeper to replace the city’s existing vehicle.

The city currently owns just one street sweeper which is used to sweep and clean-up dirt and debris on municipal roads, in city-owned parking lots and hard surface areas. The equipment is used extensively as part of the city’s roads and drainage department’s preventative maintenance program.

But Clinton Crook, the city’s senior buyer, said the existing street sweeper is a 2006 model, is at the end of its serviceable life and last year posed problems for the city.

“(It) experienced significant down time and costly repairs in 2016,” Crook said. “It will be traded in as part of the acquisition of the new unit and the city received good value on the trade-in. The new unit will be used daily and is one of the most utilized pieces of equipment in the city’s fleet, with over 1,500 hours’ usage annually.”

The street sweeper is being purchased from Burnaby-based Vimar Equipment Ltd. Though Rollins came in with a lower priced bid at $246,854, Crook said its submission “did not fully meet the city’s vehicle specifications and provided alternates in several critical areas of the build specification…that were considered inferior to the stated equipment requirements.”

Crook added that Rollins also did not agree to the city’s late delivery penalty causes which he said “are critical due to the existing vehicle’s condition and potential for a critical failure.”

Funding for the $288,128 street sweeper from Vimar is coming from the city’s fleet and heavy equipment reserve. Council had budgeted $350,000 for the purchase.