Six months after the Salinas City Council revised a contract with Republic Services, Salinas’s waste collector, which moved street-sweeping responsibilities to the city, the City's finance committee approved $2.2 million to buy four street sweepers.
According to city officials, the city is taking over street sweeping due to the poor performance of the current contractor.
“Since they've taken over street sweeping, it's pretty much been a disaster,” Heidi Niggemeyer, a national pollutant discharge elimination system program manager with the City of Salinas, told the finance committee. “Now we're trying to bring street sweeping in-house, and to do that, we need these four street sweepers to start.”
Since Republic Services took over street sweeping, it has received 175 alerts reporting service issues, from creating dirt clouds to dumping a sweeper’s water in the storm drain. According to the Public Works report, the city didn’t have these issues when it handled the service in-house. (Republic Services will continue to provide sweeping services until the city takes over.)
"Republic Services of Salinas is committed to providing reliable, compliant service to the City of Salinas," Communications Manager James Richardson writes on the company's behalf via email.
"Following concerns regarding street sweeping operations in the city, Republic Services worked with its street sweeping subcontractor to improve performance and service consistency. Enhancements included increased operational oversight and daily route verification, routine inspections and performance monitoring, and a streamlined process for addressing service issues to help ensure service levels meet the city's expectations."
Another reason the city is bringing the purchase forward is a state regulation that begins next year, making it mandatory to purchase electric street sweepers, which cost up to $300,000, more than conventional sweepers.
The plan is to use funds from its infrastructure reserve to purchase the sweepers. These sweepers would be mechanical and use water to clean the streets.
“Those are much more effective here in Salinas,” David Jacobs, Salinas' public works director, told the committee. Jacobs added they expect to have the sweepers delivered in April if the plan is approved this month.
The plan is headed to Salinas City Council for final approval in November.