Monday, September 28, 2009
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A suspected drunk driver smashed right into a street sweeper overnight.
The accident happened along W.T. Harris Boulevard in east Charlotte where crews were re-surfacing part of the road.
According to police, a car rear-ended the street sweeper. No one was hurt in the accident. The driver was arrested for DWI.
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SAUGUS-There will be no street sweeper coming home to roost anytime soon since Town Meeting members put a request to purchase one on hold.
Town Meeting members Al DiNardo and Rick Smith sponsored a warrant article during Monday’s special Town Meeting that sought to purchase a street sweeper for the town because they believe it will save the town money. Department of Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato disagrees.
Smith however offered to send the article back to the Finance Committee for a full cost analysis on purchasing a street sweeper versus contracting out services twice a year.
DiNardo argued that as of January 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency will require communities to sweep their streets twice a year as part of the clean waters act. He said last year the town paid roughly $30,000 to have the streets swept. Bump that up to twice a year, and the town will be forced to budget at least $60,000 for the service.
DiNardo said the town could purchase a sweeper of its own for $158,000, which he believed would pay for itself.
“Even if it cost $170,000, it would be worth it,” Smith said. “We’ve bought lawn mowers and snow throwers . . . DPW said we have no experience to determine this but I don’t think you have to be experienced to see sand and debris in the streets.”
DiNardo also rebuffed a comment made in a letter from Attubato that said he didn’t have a handle on the situation. He said he believes swept streets are a basic service and that Everett and Chelsea both seem to have cleaner streets than Saugus, but Wakefield is the town they should model.
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
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The City of East Ridge continues cleanup efforts after seven days of both flash flooding and river flooding in the area. The City is working with State and Federal officials to request federal disaster assistance and to put together a comprehensive cleanup effort.
A preliminary assessment of the damage has shown that approximately 232 homes have been impacted by the flooding. In addition to the affected homes approximately 28 businesses have also been affected by flood waters. At least 500 people had to be rescued and evacuated by emergency services workers.
East Ridge Public Works have a street sweeper working to clean the streets of debris and sediment. Once the sweeping is complete the City will be spreading lime to mitigate contamination from a possible sewage overflow. In addition to this the City is placing dumpsters in strategic locations though out the affected areas for residence to place water damaged items.
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LEXINGTON, KY - While their commercials depict the green pickup truck in a few different lights, employees from Windstream will be using it Wednesday in a way not seen in their ads: as a street cleaner.
As a part of a month long plan to promote a lifetime price guarantee, Erin Ascione, Windstream's Lexington manager of marketing and communications, said she and around 10 other Windstream staffers will be cleaning a 4.9 mile stretch of road between Duncan, Coolavin, Gratz, Triangle, Phoenix, Thoroughbred and Woodland Parks.
Ascione said it is a chance for the company to give back to the community while promoting their new unlimited nationwide calling and high speed internet package with a $49.99 price guarantee for life.
"It will never go up, it always has the possibility of going down, but it will never go up," she said.
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. -- Five vehicles were involved in a crash on Lebanon Church Road in West Mifflin Monday afternoon.
The chain reaction crash happened near the Allegheny County airport when a minivan, three cars and a street sweeper collided in the left lane.
Police have not reported any injuries, but there was at least one ambulance at the scene.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
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The summer of 2007 was brutal for downtown Tulsa when the rebuilding of several major streets created a drought for merchants. It prompted the city’s mayor to send an e-mail to about 25,000 workers pleading with them to frequent their neighborhood restaurants.
An even bigger $141.5 million makeover is in the works for downtown Oklahoma City — one that designers say will span 36 blocks and be one of the largest downtown street programs in the country.
"It’s massive,” Planning Director Russell Claus said. "Tulsa did some streetscaping like this, but not to this degree. It’s essentially a complete transformation of the public realm.”
The project is a direct spin-off of the new Devon Energy Corp. world headquarters. With construction set to begin next month, city officials are fast-tracking improvements being paid for by a $115 million tax increment finance district tied to the 50-story tower’s construction. Utility companies, meanwhile, are following city requests to start relocation work now to avoid tearing up streets once they are rebuilt.
The first phase of the makeover, totaling $77 million, is being drafted by the Houston office of James Burnett and Associates, which in turn hired walkability author and consultant Jeff Speck. His report on downtown Oklahoma City released earlier this year challenged conventional thinking about street patterns.
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Friday, September 18, 2009
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The Beatrice Board of Public Works approved rate increases on water, wastewater and electricity during its regular meeting Wednesday.
A 5 percent increase on electric rates, a $2.50 increase in the wastewater base rate and a $2.60 increase in water base rate will go into effect Oct. 1. The increase in rates will raise an estimated $160,000 for both the wastewater and water department.
The increase in electric rates will raise revenue an estimated $620,000. BPW officials said the rate increase is in response to a higher charge for electricity delivered to the city by Nebraska Public Power District.
The Board also voted to reject two bids for a new street sweeper and put the purchase on hold for at least six months in order to determine if the city can function with only one sweeper.
While the city owns two sweepers, there have been maintenance and repair problems with one of them. Under the proposed plan, that sweeper will be “parked” and only one sweeper will be used for city cleaning.
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Nebraska City’s new street sweeper has been busy brushing up for the AppleJack Festival and Street Commissioner Dean Handy said it will stay on the job until every street is reached.
The $141,000 machine’s first duty after arriving last week was the main roads and AppleJack parade route.
Handy said it will work from the busiest routes to the less traveled. A challenge ahead, he said, is removal of leaves.
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“If we didn’t pick up the leaves occasionally, all of our storm sewers would plug. The street sweeper eliminates that problem and helps out the utilities tremendously,” Handy said.
The new machine features an air-conditioned cab and a water application to keep dust down.
The city’s previous sweeper was 10 years old and had fallen into disrepair.
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
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Submitted by Sweepnict
Elgin Sweeper, the leader in environmentally efficient street sweepers, has introduced a factory authorized sweeper rebuild program for customers unable to purchase new sweepers due to budget constraints in the current economy. Available to municipal and contractor customers until Dec. 29, 2009, the program was established in conjunction with Elgin Sweeper’s North American dealer network.
"Our rebuild program is a great alternative for customers working with Elgin sweepers that have endured years of extensive work, especially when there isn't room in their budgets to purchase a new sweeper," said Frank Ligori, parts marketing manager for Federal Signal Corporation’s Environmental Solutions Group, of which Elgin Sweeper is a subsidiary.
According to Dave Donlon, vice president of Standard Equipment Company, an Elgin Sweeper dealership located in Chicago, Elgin Sweeper is leading the industry with this comprehensive rebuild program. "In terms of service and maintenance, Elgin Sweeper always seems to take the lead," Donlon said. "I don't see any other sweeper manufacturer as committed to service as Elgin Sweeper is, and the rebuild program is a perfect example."
All point inspection
Developing a standard, all point inspection form for each Elgin Sweeper model was the first step in developing the rebuild program. In most cases, these model-specific forms include approximately 100 points of inspection. "The all point inspection forms include hydraulic, electrical and mechanical functions," Donlon said.
"The inspection is what makes this rebuild program so special," Donlon said. His team of technicians thoroughly evaluates the sweeper and provides the customer with a comprehensive list of needed repairs. "We want our customers to be fully aware of all areas of repair," he said. "We want to save customer downtime by rebuilding the sweeper right the first time so they have peace of mind for the entire sweeping season."
During the rebuild process, Donlon said his team ensures that the sweeper is mechanically sound. Depending on the customer’s needs and the condition of the sweeper, the extent of the rebuild may include sand blasting, re-painting and all fit and finish.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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Submitted by Sweepnict
After two split votes and more than an hour of discussion, the Board of Public Works decided to forward a proposed lease for a street sweeper to the Beatrice City Council.
While street supervisor Ron Baete told the board that he would accept any decision made, he believed the city had a need for the new sweeper.
“I believe in keeping the city clean,” he said. “And we can’t keep it clean with one sweeper.
City engineer Rex Behrends agreed with Baete, pointing out that cutting the city down to one sweeper could lead to problems in the city’s storm water sewer system by adding more solids such as grass clippings, leaves, and gravel to an already aging system.
Baete said one sweeper would only allow street cleaning about once a month. Under the current schedule, the streets are cleaned twice a month.
BPW General Manager Neal Niedfeldt told the board the idea of putting off equipment purchases concerned him.
“If we keep letting our equipment slide, we will wake up one day and find a whole bunch of equipment ready to be replaced.”
Earlier this month the board opened two bids for a street sweeper.
The purchase bid for a street sweeper from Nebraska Environmental Equipment was $229,150.
The bid for leasing the vehicle was $50,237 a year for three years, and $96,000 for the fourth year, at which time the city would own the vehicle.
The total cost of the lease program would be $246,711. The purchase price in a bid for a Johnson street sweeper from Rose Equipment was $184,460.
The lease/buy program through Rose was $48,729 per year for four years, for a total of $194,916.
The board split on a motion by Ron Fleecs to lease the Johnson street sweeper.
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Monday, September 14, 2009
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A University of Miami student who was struck by a street sweeper on Friday remained in critical condition on Saturday, according to Coral Gables police.
Bianca Milov, 20, was struck by the sweeper shortly after 1 a.m. Friday in the 4000 block of Aurora Street, police said. Paramedics rushed Milov to Ryder Trauma Center, where she is in critical condition.
Coral Gables police released no other information about the incident.
Milov, of Livingston, N.J. was an undergraduate student majoring history.
``The University of Miami community is terribly saddened to hear of a serious injury sustained by a member of the University family, Bianca Milov,'' UM officials said in a written statement.
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
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Submitted by Sweepnict
It was street-sweeping day on the first Tuesday of the month in Capitol Hill, a prime time for issuing parking tickets in Denver. And vehicle-control agent Vincent Juarez had hit his stride.
His hand-held computer was set to "quick ticket" as Juarez — Denver's No. 1 ticket issuer two years running — cranked out one per minute as he slowly drove his vehicle from car to car illegally parked on the east side of Logan Street north of East Eighth Avenue. The street sweepers were several blocks behind him as he tried to keep pace.
"Those sweepers can move quickly and get on us fast," he said. "It's nerve- racking."
He punched the license plate number of a white Volkswagen Passat into the computer, hit the print button, attached the ticket to the yellow envelope and slipped it into the car door. It took a matter of seconds.
Next was a black Camaro, followed by a green Volvo. By the time he reached the end of the block, he had issued 12 tickets in less than 15 minutes. No one on the block had heeded the street-sweeping warnings.
Juarez was a security guard in the Webb Municipal Building about three years ago when he heard about a vacancy in parking control. When he told his father about his new job, the reaction was "You're one of those guys," Juarez recalled.
By his second year, in 2007, he was the top ticket writer. Last year, he led again, issuing 22,258 parking tickets, according to the city's parking ticket database. About half were for parking on street-sweeping day.
He had the biggest four days last year, topped by the 404 tickets he wrote on Oct. 7, another street-sweeping day.
But Juarez downplays his prowess, simply saying "Really?" when informed of his numbers.
He said he gets his fair share of irate, screaming motorists, but he has never felt threatened.
"I let them vent," Juarez said.
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
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Submitted by Sweepnict
The former budget director for a disgraced ex Waterbury mayor will spend four months on home confinement and the rest of his five-year sentence on probation.
Thomas Ariola Jr. was sentenced Monday for taking a bribe from a street-sweeping company that wanted a city contract. He admitted to taking $500 from Martins Landscaping Inc., which was involved in a dispute over the $100,000 contract to sweep Waterbury’s streets.
The other part of his punishment is to pay a $15,000 fine, 450 hours of community service and to pay his outstanding tax debt.
In April 2001, Martins got the contract to provide street-sweeping services to the city during the Spring and early Summer of 2001, according to the Department of Justice. The company was supposed to sweep more than 306 miles of city streets for $109,395.
Then the disputes began. The city felt the contractor did not clear the street adequately and quickly enough.
On July 25, 2001, Stephen Martin, of Martins Landscaping, went to City Hall and met with Ariola, who was not involved in that area of city business, according to the DOJ. By While he was not involved in that part of city government, he did accounting and tax prep work for Martin’s Landscaping, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
During the meeting, Stephen Martin gave Ariola two checks, each for $250, payable to Philip Giordano’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, against Joe Lieberman in 2000, according to the DOJ.
Ariola happened to be deputy treasurer of Giordano's Senate campaign at the time, the New York Times reported. And city budget director from 1996 to 2001 and the chief fiscal officer of the city's Board of Education until 2005, the Times reported.
The problem, according to the DOJ, was captured on incriminating wiretaps that indicate that the checks were given to influence and reward Giordano in connection with giving preferential treatment to Martin’s Landscaping in connection with disputes related to the 2001 street-sweeping contract, according to the DOJ.
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Friday, September 11, 2009
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TODDVILLE, IA - Monroe Township Fire Department was dispatched to the intersection of Tower Terrace Road and Feather Ridge Road for a county truck on fire. Engine 224 and tanker 220 responded with four personnel/ During the response, a large column of black smoke could be seen for miles. Responding crews were met on scene by one additional volunteer firefighter.
Crews found a county street cleaner heavily involved with fire. A hand line with foam was pulled and placed into service. An aggressive attack was mounted but the bulk of the fire was difficult to reach due to the construction of the street cleaner. Once access was obtained, the main body of the fire was handled with two 1 1/2" hand lines within approximately 10 minutes.
Due to the difficulty of reaching the fire, an additional tanker was requested from Hiawatha Fire. Once an extensive overhaul was completed it was determined the street cleaner was a total loss, with a possible ignition source of a ruptured hydraulic line that was ignited by the rear braking system.
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There's no way of knowing for sure just how fast the truck was travelling but the force of the impact broke a window, a wall and scattered brick.
It's good to have a contractor as a friend who can answer an urgent call to come repair your home. “We have emergencies all the time,” said Richard Wychman. But nothing quite like this.
A street sweeper truck left a gaping hole in the front of his business partner's home on the 2600 block of Palmyra Drive in Churchville. It happened around 3 o’clock Wednesday afternoon. “I thought I heard a dump truck going by and a thump sound,” explained neighbor Jerry Allen, “so I decided to look outside." Much to his surprise, a street sweeper slammed right into his friends' home. They are on vacation. So he snapped pictures and called them.
Allen also got a firsthand account from the driver of the runaway street sweeper. “From what he told me what happened was he parked by the silver truck went to another neighbors house to get his truck to move, the blue truck,” he said, “as he was at the neighbor's house the sweeper took off on it's own." The huge machine, which was being used to prepare the road for re-surfacing, rolled down the hill crashing into a guest bedroom. “That bed used to against the wall, I didn't move anything, it probably moved that bed about 4 feet," said contractor Richard Wychman.
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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The new road sweeper looked vaguely familiar to passers by in Upper Holloway – and to this reporter, out on Tribune business. But it was quite evident, as the sweeper painstakingly chased even the smallest item of litter, that he was new to the job.
It was only a neighbourly “good morning,” from a resident in Sunnyside Road that revealed his identity. The man pushing the broom was Lib Dem councillor Greg Foxsmith, the Town Hall’s environment chief.
Cllr Foxsmith had decided to spend the morning last Thursday sweeping streets around Elthorne Park to learn about the job and its pressures.
Before he was sent off with his barrow, he had to be fitted out with protective clothing, including a high-visibility jacket, strong gloves and “ballistic” trousers, which have extra padding to stop glass or addicts’ needles sticking into legs.
The sweeper has an array of tools – a pavement broom, a stiffer channel broom to remove silt, sand or mud, a “witch’s broom” for awkward places, a hoe to clear weeds and a shovel.
“By the end of my shift I was really tired,” said Cllr Foxsmith. “I hate it when people drop litter as it is, but this experience made me appreciate how hard it is for the people who clean our streets.
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Friday, September 4, 2009
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GODFREY - An Alton man working on a road sweeper crew was injured Thursday when the machine backed into him on the Great River Road.
James E. Elliot, 53, was listed in fair condition Thursday afternoon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where he was recovering from injuries suffered earlier in the day, when the road sweeper struck him on Illinois Route 100 at Stanka Lane in Jersey County.
Jersey County Sheriff Mark Kallal said his deputies responded to a call from the scene, where road work is being done, at 12:40 p.m. Thursday.
Kallal said Elliot, an employee of Christ Brothers Asphalt, of Lebanon, was serving as a flag man, walking behind the road sweeper driven by Nicholas J. Kimmel, 22, of Mascoutah.
Kimmel was operating the road sweeper, which sweeps up excess asphalt, and was driving behind the widening machine at the time of the accident, Kallal said.
The sheriff said Kimmel reported that he thought Elliot was in front of the widening machine. Kimmel told the police that he started backing up his sweeper, then saw Elliot behind the sweeper as he was backing up, but it was too late for him to stop, and the road sweeper struck Elliot.
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Thursday, September 3, 2009
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The dedicated staff at the city of La Grande has been very busy over the past several months with initiatives that will provide almost $2 million in benefit to our citizens with almost $1.4 million coming from successful grant applications.
I wanted to take a few minutes to acknowledge those involved and to let everyone know what they can expect to see in the way of improvements. What follows is a list of major grant projects or purchases that are planned for construction or have been completed.
The city received a grant from the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department (now known as Business Oregon) in early July in the amount of $7,143 for downtown historic building renovations. La Grande received the funds due to our active participation as a selected Oregon Main Street community.
The funds were matched with $6,635 of Urban Renewal money to put toward two downtown building improvement projects, one at 1118 Adams Ave. and one at 108 Depot. The private property owners are also contributing a combined $7,217 toward the project. Both projects are under way and will be completed by the end of November.
The Public Works Department was successful in receiving $97,000 to replace old, inefficient vehicles with three new hybrid cars. The grant dollars were from federal air quality funds under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program and covered 100 percent of the purchase. The seven-month process took the efforts of six employees, Norm Paullus, Jessica Lindley, Lee Mannor, Ray Clemens, Pat Pattee and Debbie Cornford. The three new cars are being used by the Police Department, Fire Department and the city manager and were purchased locally.
The same team from Public Works also received $167,000 in CMAQ funds to purchase a new street sweeper. Again, these dollars covered 100 percent of the cost of the purchase of the street sweeper, which is currently being built. The new street sweeper will be quieter and more efficient in picking up dirt, which will reduce the amount of dust in the air during use and meet all of the DEQ standards. The sweeper’s engine is more environmentally friendly as well, resulting in reduced engine pollutants in the air.
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Wednesday, September 2, 2009
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A fatal collision on the Glenn Highway had traffic inbound to Anchorage re-routed near the North Birchwood overpass early Monday morning after a pickup truck hit the back of a street-sweeper just after midnight.
Chad O. Wylie, 29 of Palmer, died after police say he ran into the back of the moving street-sweeper at full speed. Both vehicles were heading south, inbound to Anchorage, in a 65 mph zone.
The two men in the sweeper had minor injuries, but Wylie was in critical condition. Emergency responders had to extricate him from the truck and started CPR. Wylie died on the road.
Police said it appears Wylie was in the middle of a move, as a mattress, microwave and other personal belongings littered the highway.
"There were items in the back of the truck that were consistent with somebody moving a residence that deformed the back of the truck, and actually some of the items came through the back of the pickup window into the cab," Anchorage police Sgt. Chris Sims said.
Police also say there was no indication the driver of the pickup attempted to slow before the impact.
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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A collision under the North Birchwood overpass in the inbound lanes of the Glenn Highway just before midnight Sunday claimed the life of a 29-year-old Palmer man.
Police say Chad O. Wylie was driving a pickup when he rear-ended a street-sweeping vehicle.
Witnesses told officers that Wylie, who was alone in the pickup, was speeding and driving erratically before hitting the sweeper, said Anchorage Police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker.
The driver and a passenger in the sweeper, owned by Western Construction and Equipment, weren't hurt, Parker said.
That vehicle was traveling at highway speed with a flashing yellow light and wasn't sweeping, he said. It was loaded with 300 gallons of water, Parker said.
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