Town takes delivery on new street sweeper

The Chesterton Stormwater Utility has taken delivery of its new street sweeper.

Stormwater Utility Superintendent Mark O’Dell told the Town Council at its meeting Monday night that the new sweeper, purchased from Brown Equipment Company Inc. of Forth Wayne for $129,500, is in.

The Stormwater Utility paid cash on the barrel for the sweeper--which is actually a demo model with 97 road miles and 27 sweeping hours, $8,000 less expensive than a brand new one--and so saved at least $25,000 in interest payments.

O’Dell added that the new Stormwater Utility logo--a rain drop--will soon be applied to the machine.

Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg--who had estimated the cost of a new sweeper at $135,000--had originally asked the Stormwater Management Board to consider splitting a five-year lease-purchase agreement with the Street Department. But the council urged the board to bear the entire cost, inasmuch as a strict street-sweeping protocol is a requirement of the MS4 program.

President Emerson DeLaney, R-5th, thanked Stormwater Management Board President Thomas Kopko for finding the cash to make the purchase.

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