Wednesday, December 30, 2009
|
NORTH BERGEN - The township is the best in the state when it comes to street sweeping, according to the manufacturer of the cleaning machine.
The township's Department of Public Works was recently presented the "Paragon of Street Sweeping Excellence" award from TYMCO, a privately owned street sweeper manufacturer based in Waco, Texas.
Jeff O'Malley, the Northeast regional manager for TYMCO, who has been working with the township for 15 years, said North Bergen has "one of the best sweeping programs in the Northeast."
Besides providing North Bergen its street sweepers, TYMCO also has contracts with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, as well as other municipalities, including Rutherford, Paterson, and Bayonne, O'Malley said.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
|
Monday, December 28, 2009
|
CARLSBAD ---- A street sweeper who had his son along Saturday night was arrested after another man accused him of pulling a gun during an argument, a Carlsbad police lieutenant said.
However, the sweeper, Michael Sean Snyder, 41, of Escondido, said he never pulled a gun and that the other man threatened him.
Andres Garcia, 22, told police he was looking for food in the trash behind Albertsons, at 7660 El Camino Real, when he got in an argument with Snyder, who was cleaning the area with his son in a street sweeper, Lt. Paul Mendes said.
Garcia told police that Snyder reached into a duffel bag on the floor of the vehicle and pulled out a black pistol, prompting Garcia to call police, Mendes said.
Snyder said he was cleaning the area when he saw two men behind the store, loading boxes into a white van. Snyder said he pulled closer to read the van's license plate and took out his cell phone to report the perceived theft to police.
At that point, one of the men charged the truck, fists up, challenging him and cursing, Snyder said.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
The blizzard earlier this month added some heft to Johnston public works director Dave Cubit's No. 1 request for the 2010-11 budget year: a new snowplow.
Cubit said it would cost about $100,000 for a single-axle dump truck with snow and ice removal equipment after trade-in. The trade-in vehicle itself is 9 years old. Cubit indicates it is standard that snowplows be replaced after seven years
"Having a newer fleet of equipment really cuts back our maintenance costs," said Cubit. His department makes up about 23 percent of Johnston's annual government operations budget - second only to public safety.
The other items on Cubit's wish list, in order of priority, are a street sweeper, outside maintenance and weatherizing to one of the public works buildings, a roadside mower boom attachment, additional traffic light LED conversions and a full-size pick-up with snowplow.
Replacing Johnston's two older street sweepers has already been passed over in the annual budget process for two consecutive years, Cubit said. It would cost $200,000 for a new machine after trading in the city's 10- and 15-year-old sweepers, which must be used to keep the city in compliance with its storm water permit.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
HRH Prince William was true to his word of not wanting to be an “ornament” this week when he slept on the streets of London. He is patron of Centrepoint, a charity that works with the homeless, primarily youth. Princess Diana introduced him to the organization when he was young, so that he and his brother would never forget how lucky they are and to help those in need. In order to draw attention to the issue of youth homelessness, the future King of England slept on a cardboard box with the chief executive of the charity, along with a few others. There was a scary moment when the group was almost run over by a street sweeper, showing just how vulnerable people on the streets often are.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Monday, December 21, 2009
|
Peachtree City’s approval of a $62,782 contract for street sweeping services normally would not be such a noteworthy event.
The item was, in fact, on the city council consent agenda, a list of items that are voted on as a group in large part because they are non-controversial and require little if any explanation from staff beyond the memos provided to council members in advance of the meeting.
But the street sweeping contract drew the attention of new councilman Eric Imker, and so it was pulled off the consent agenda for discussion. Imker suggested the city could benefit from purchasing its own street sweeper and handling the duties with public works employees.
Imker noted that the contract included monthly street sweeping for 16 city parking lots and approximately 73 miles of curbed streets.
Imker said he got an analysis from city staff that indicated the city could almost break even by handling the job in-house. Finance Director Paul Salvatore noted that the calculations he provided to Imker were off because he learned a larger street sweeper would be necessary for the work, and that a dump truck would have to follow behind it to collect the waste.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
PARKER, Colo. (AP) - Authorities say a pickup hit a street sweeper on a southeast Denver expressway, killing the pickup driver.
The E-470 Highway Authority says the collision occurred Thursday night on a bridge that carries the toll road over Parker Road near the town of Parker.
Officials say the sweeper driver apparently wasn't hurt. The highway authority says the sweeper was under contract to clean the roadway.
The crash is under investigation.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Friday, December 18, 2009
|
Lewis and Clark County officials kicked the tires on a new street sweeper Tuesday — and they liked the sticker price.
The bid price for the new Elgin sweeper came in at $209,000, but the county only footed an eighth of the cost. The Montana Air and Congestion Initiative, a program funded through the state Department of Transportation, gave the county a $182,000 grant toward the purchase, leaving taxpayers with a bill of $27,000.
The county will use the new sweeper in the spring months to cut down on dust problems created by a winter’s worth of sanding the roads.
“We were lucky to get it,” Assistant Public Works Director Kyle Thomas said. “Those machines, as you see, are $200,000. And not many places anywhere have a new broom like that.”
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
OAKLEY -- A Freedom High School teacher was killed this morning when his motorcycle collided with a street sweeper that was making a U-turn, police said.
Charles Edgle Smith Jr., 56, of Antioch, was riding near Neroly Road and Frandoras Circle about 8 a.m. when the crash occurred. He was pronounced dead at the scene, said Chief Chris Thorsen.
The collision is under investigation. Thorsen said alcohol or drugs do not appear to have been a factor in the crash.
Smith, who went by "Ed," had been with Liberty Union High School District for two decades and had worked at Freedom High for at least 10 years, said Erik Faulkner, a former principal at the school.
Most recently, Smith taught a course on driver's education and decision-making, he said.
Smith was also a tireless supporter of school athletics, helping to keep score and start the races at track meets as well as attending nearly every one of the basketball and football teams' home games.
"He was the voice of Freedom," Faulkner said, referring to Smith's duties as the announcer for both boys and girls basketball games and, until several years ago, football games.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
|
Ronald Eugene Bailey, 44, of Huntsville passed away suddenly Friday.
Ronald was a 1983 graduate of Buckhorn High School. He was employed with Schwarze Industries and president of Moores Mill Volunteer Fire Department.
Ronald was preceded in death by his father, William Bailey; and brothers, William Kevin Bailey and Barry Neal Bailey.
He is survived by his wife, Bertha "Boots" Bailey; daughter, Brandy Crabtree McCown and husband Michael; granddaughter, Rachel McCown; mother, Betty Bailey; brothers, Donald "Bigum" Bailey and wife Angie, and Jeff Bailey and wife Robin; nephews, Tyler Bailey, Kevin Bailey and Zachary Bailey; nieces, Courtney Bailey, Heather Prince and Breanna Prince; and great-nephew, Carter Osborne.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Submitted by Sweepnict
When Boeing announced its vision for the new 787 Dreamliner in 2002, it was no surefire winner. Aviation pundits and many company employees openly questioned whether Boeing management was fully committed to remaining a power in the airliner business.
Airbus was aviation's innovator then, pouring billions of euros into developing its new A380 superjumbo jet. Boeing seemed like a deer in Airbus' headlights.
The U.S. plane maker had already abandoned a plan to develop a bigger jumbo jet, the 747X, to go against the A380. Then, in December 2002, it dumped a more daring plan for a dramatically different-looking jet that emphasized speed over size, the Sonic Cruiser.
The replacement, first called the 7E7, seemed boring by comparison: a fuel-sipping, traditionally shaped airplane that would save airlines money.
Some doubted that Boeing would follow through on this one, either.
They were wrong. Through all the criticism, Boeing's strategic planners kept their nerve and ultimately judged the market dead right: The 787's unprecedented sales success reversed Boeing's fortunes.
Runway cleaning machines clean and dry the runway at Paine Field prior to the planned maiden flight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
|
Muncie residents will see cleaner streets this winter season.
Muncie’s third street sweeper has now arrived to the city, said Nancy Williams, assistant superintendent of the Muncie Sanitation District.
“Now that we have a new sweeper, we will be able to clean the entire city, including neighborhoods,” Williams said.
Street sweepers pick up small tree limbs, leaves, glass and other small objects.
District Driver, David Clark, said his truck and the other two sweepers will go out daily, as long as the weather stays above 30 degrees, to maintain the streets.
Temperatures under 30 degrees may freeze the equipment. The sweeping process involves water, which may also freeze and cause slick driving ground.
“I’ve had people come down to where I dump waste to let us know that they appreciate what we’re doing and what we’re getting done,” Clark said. “And we’re out everyday too, including today in the winter.”
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Monday, December 14, 2009
|
It's not only the Sierra ski resorts that make cash from the snow storms, but also those in the valley.
Greg has been shoveling snow some 22 hours. It's earning the street-sweeper extra money for the holidays.
"We've converted over to doing snow because there isn't anything to sweep off the streets," he said.
It wasn't just those removing snow for holiday shoppers making a buck, but the stores too.
At a Reno big box store, there was a rush on anything snow-related like salt and shovels.
"Woke up with morning and our driveway is packed so we're getting some salt also for my mother in-law," one woman said.
Others hoping for do-it-yourself snow removal are heading for Reno Cycles and Gear. This store says people are buying plows, looking for all-wheel drive, and snowmobile fun.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
NORTH CANTON — The frozen dirt pile mixed with rocks and leaves looks cleaner then the mound of dirt and concrete a few feet away.
But according to state regulations, the leaves and gravel collected by a North Canton street sweeper must be hauled to a landfill. The dirt and concrete — from a damaged catch basin in the city — can remain in a lot off Freedom Avenue NW in Jackson Township.
Now that North Canton officials know the pile of street debris is a problem, it will be hauled away at the city’s cost, Mayor David J. Held said.
But there are some in the community who wonder why city administrators — especially Held as director of the Stark, Tuscarawas and Wayne Counties Joint Solid Waste District — didn’t know street debris is a solid waste.
Held said confusion began in November 2008 when city administrators first discussed the rule with state officials and were left with the impression they were properly handling street sweepings.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Friday, December 11, 2009
|
UPPER DARBY — Township police didn’t get their man but they did recover the lion’s share of the loot stolen from the bank.
The township’s street sweeper gobbled up $3,474 mixed in with the fallen leaves.
The Dec. 6 holdup at the Citizens Bank, 4221 Ferne Blvd., Drexel Hill, had police on the lookout for the lone robber who fled on foot with $5,385.
Investigators released a surveillance photo the next day of the bank robber who allegedly threatened the teller demanding she place cash from her drawer in a white bag.
“Police found $30 outside the bank,” police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. “On Tuesday an Upper Darby School District bus driver found $542, stained with red dye, in the street on Valley Road.
“We learned the township’s street sweeper was in the neighborhood on Monday so we searched the sweeper and found $3,474 inside. It’s amazing. The money was in the leaves in the gutter and swept up by the street sweeper. A total of $4,046 was recovered. We’re still seeking the identity of the robber.”
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
PELHAM — Resident Cindy Doherty dumped a pitcher of water on the new street Tuesday in her Boulder Hills neighborhood.
The water vanished on contact, seeping through the porous asphalt, the first road of its kind in New Hampshire.
Her point was the stuff works. No puddles form.
The real work, however, takes place when storm water — rain, snow melt or water from lawn irrigation — seeps through the asphalt.
The water is filtered of any pollutants like sediment, heavy metals and petroleum products, according to Robert Roseen, director of the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center.
Storm water left to pool and run off into the environment is a threat to water quality, emptying pollutants into streams and rivers.
The center teamed with contractor Stickville LLC and the town to lay down 900 feet of porous asphalt on Winterberry Road, as well as porous asphalt driveways and walkways in the adult condominium community.
By eliminating runoff, the porous surface makes retention ponds and catch basins unnecessary, said Tony Stickney, co-owner of Stickville.
The asphalt, which was put down about three weeks ago, costs 25 percent more than traditional asphalt, but the developers saved money by not having to install drainage and collection systems, he said.
The asphalt looks pretty much the same as regular surfacing.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, December 10, 2009
|
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL -- What do you give a big baby rhino on her first birthday? Why more food, of course, wrapped in a pink box.
This baby rhino named "Jazi" turned one Wednesday and she shared her treats with her family at the Lion Country Safari theme park in Florida.
Her big gift will be a 51-inch street sweeper brush that she enjoys as a back scratcher.
Since birth, Jazi, an endangered southern white rhino, has gained three-pounds a day. She now weighs more than 1,200 pounds. They can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and live to be 45-years-old.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
|
TOWANDA - The Towanda Borough Council on Monday passed a tentative $3.2 million borough budget for 2010 which includes no tax increase, but eliminates the curbside pickup of leaves and Christmas trees and scales back the borough's street sweeping operation and spring clean-up.
While Towanda Borough Manager Tom Fairchild Jr. had proposed eliminating the Towanda Borough Police Department's K-9 unit, the budget does include money to keep it in operation, Fairchild said.
The K-9 unit "is not going to be shut down," Towanda Borough Councilman Paul Sweitzer said at Monday's meeting. However, he said: "We are looking for additional funding (for the K-9 unit). There has to be other people kicking in some money. The dog is used a lot outside of Towanda Borough."
At a budget workshop on Dec. 3, the council had discussed whether to impose a fee on other police departments when they borrow Towanda's police dog. However, no decision has been made yet on whether to impose such a fee.
At the start of the council meeting, Second Street resident Pat Taylor and William Street resident Rhys Eastham urged the council not to eliminate the K-9 unit, which is used as a patrol dog and to detect the presence of narcotics.
"I think the proposed budget is extremely tight," Fairchild said, adding that the borough council has been working on preparing the budget for several months. "We looked at everything (for possible cuts). I think this is a budget that we can all live with and work with."
Under the tentative budget, the borough real estate tax rate would remain at 14.56 mils in 2010, which is the same as it was in 2009, Fairchild said.
The tentative budget can now be reviewed at the Towanda Municipal Building at 724 Main St.
At its year-end meeting on Dec. 28, the council is scheduled to adopt a final 2010 borough budget and set the borough real estate tax rate for 2010.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Monday, December 7, 2009
|
Asked to respond to some local residents who want Towanda Borough to use the $154,000 gas lease payment it has received to avoid a cut in services this year, Towanda Borough Manager Tom Fairchild Jr. said that borough is eyeing other uses for that money.
"We are proposing to use the interest on the $154,000 in the 2010 borough budget to help offset our expenses," Fairchild said. "But the borough council doesn't want to use the principal (of the gas lease payment) for the borough's operating expenses."
Instead of relying heavily on the gas lease payment this year, the borough council is planning to make a series of cuts in borough services, which will help avoid a tax increase.
At a budget workshop on Thursday, the consensus of the council was to keep the borough tax rates unchanged in 2010.
At its budget workshop on Thursday, the council members said they planned to eliminate curbside pickup of residents' leaves, eliminate the pickup of Christmas trees at curbside, and reduce the borough's spring cleanup program to one day per year.
Fairchild is also proposing to reduce the hours the borough's street sweeper is deployed. Another possible cut that has been discussed by the council is to eliminate the Towanda Police Department's K-9 unit.
In 2008, the borough received the $154,000 gas lease payment from Chesapeake Appalachia, which allows the company to drill gas wells on 84 acres of borough land, subject to certain restrictions. The borough will receive more than $50,000 in additional gas lease money if it can show through an ongoing quiet title action that it is the sole owner of the mineral rights at the borough's 33.9-acre former landfill site on Bridge Street Hill.
A number of local residents had posted comments on The Daily Review's readers' blog, stating that the gas lease money should be used to avoid a tax increase this year or prevent services from being cut.
The council might use some of the gas lease payment to make to help pay for upgrades to make the borough's buildings more energy efficient, Fairchild said.
"We're looking at possibly using some of the money as a local match to secure a (federal or state) energy-efficiency grant to make energy-efficiency improvements" in buildings owned by the borough, he said on Wednesday.
As a condition for receiving a federal or state grant, local governments are often required to make a monetary contribution or "match" toward the cost of the project.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
COUNTRY CLUB HILLS -- Alphonso J. Jones, 38, of St. Louis, was killed about 3:40 a.m. Thursday when his northbound car collided with a street sweeper truck on Lucas & Hunt Road just north of Jenwood Avenue, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. The truck driver, Leon P. Sherman, 48, of St. Louis, suffered minor injuries, police said. Both had been wearing seat belts. Troopers said there was black ice in some spots in the metro area at the time, but it was not clear if slippery conditions played a role in this crash.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Friday, December 4, 2009
|
SECAUCUS -- Remember the not-so-gently used items that Secaucus was selling a couple weeks back on the web site GovDeals.com? GovDeals.com allows local municipalities to sell off old back hoes and fire trucks online.
Until recently Secaucus had 13 items listed. There was the 1991 Ravo street sweeper, a 1975 front end loader, and enough Ford Crown Victorias to outfit a small police department.
Well, don’t laugh. These rusted clunkers have generated thousands of dollars.
At press time, bidding for the 1975 front end loader had reached $5,026. Similarly, bids for a 1987 back hoe had reached $5,025. What a hoe!
A 1991 Revo street sweeper lagged far behind with a top bid of $575.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, December 3, 2009
|
A NSW man was killed and his female companion critically injured in a head-on collision with a truck in northern Tasmania.
The 40-year-old man was the front seat passenger in a Hyundai hatchback driven by the woman, 62, which collided with the truck on the Bass Highway at Exton, near Deloraine, shortly after 4.30pm (AEDT) yesterday.
Police said the truck, which was towing a road sweeper, crossed the centre line and drove into the Hyundai's path.
The man died at the scene. The woman was taken to the Launceston General Hospital with critical injuries.
The truck's occupants, a 20-year-old Hagley man and a 19-year-old man from Riverside were taken to the same hospital in a satisfactory condition.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Pitkin County may take advantage of a $200,000 federal grant earmarked for projects improving local air quality. County staff presented possible ways to spend the money to the Pitkin County commissioners on Tuesday.
The so-called Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the Department of Transportation would require the county to pony up $34,420 in matching funds. That money has not yet been budgeted for 2010, and the commissioners were hesitant to green-light it as they grapple with recession-depleted coffers.
County Engineer G.R. Fielding and Energy Program manager Dylan Hoffman floated four air quality improvement ideas before the commissioners.
They suggested the commissioners authorize using the money to convert three of the Ford Escape hybrids in their fleet of government vehicles into plug-in hybrids. The move would cost $52,000. The fuel-efficient Escapes currently get about 30 miles to the gallon, but Hoffman said they could more than double that rate if it is updated with plug-in technology.
Fielding said the conversion would not only save county gas money but also provide a proactive clean energy example to citizens.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
|
Waste management operators in Florida, New Jersey, Idaho and California have opened compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel stations to support the deployment of their CNG trash collection truck fleets. CNG trash trucks cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 23 percent compared to diesel-powered models, according to natural gas provider Clean Energy Fuels Corp. The cities of North Little Rock, Arkansas, and Ogden, Utah, are also switching to CNG garbage trucks to cut fuel costs and reduce emissions.
The new CNG stations were designed and built by Clean Energy Fuels for Choice Environmental Services, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Central Jersey Waste, Hamilton Township, N.J.; Allied Waste Services, Boise, Idaho; and South County Sanitary Company, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The Choice Environmental Services CNG station supports South Florida’s first privately owned fleet of natural gas trash trucks. Similarly, Central Jersey Waste and Recycling has become the first refuse company in New Jersey to convert a portion of its truck fleet operations to natural gas fuel and is building a private CNG truck fueling station at its Trenton location.
Allied Waste Services is providing the first CNG fuel station with public access in Idaho, which will open in early in 2010.
South County Sanitary has opened its first private Clean Energy CNG fueling station to support its own CNG truck fleet. The waste management company plans to transition its entire refuse fleet to natural gas power.
Similarly, the city of North Little Rock is converting four of its highest-polluting vehicles — three trash trucks and one street sweeper — to CNG, reports Arkansas News. The city hopes to convert its entire public works fleet to CNG because it’s a clean-burning fuel and there is plenty of supply and production in Arkansas, reports the local newspaper.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
|
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Converting its four highest-polluting vehicles to compressed natural gas could start a trend, the City of North Little Rock hopes.
The city expects to receive a $207,000 state grant to help pay for converting three refuse trucks and a street sweeper from diesel to compressed natural gas, said Michael Drake, the city officer in charge of energy efficiency.
The grant has been recommended for funding by the state Department of Environmental Quality but is subject to legislative review, he said.
The conversion would include a CNG fueling station that would sell to the public.
Drake said the city hopes eventually to convert its entire public works fleet to CNG. Not only is natural gas a clean-burning fuel, but it is abundant and produced in Arkansas, he said.
“We want to lead by example,” he said.
Officials believe building a public CNG station could lead to increased demand for the fuel, first in Central Arkansas, then across the state, Drake said. Several Central Arkansas counties, a city and a state agency have expressed interest in using the fuel, he said.
Currently, just one CNG station in the state sells to the public, according to the federal Department of Energy. Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Co.’s station in Fort Smith is open to the public 3 1/2 hours on weekdays and accepts cash only.
Little Rock National Airport’s CNG fueling station is private, as are another CNG station in Fort Smith, one in Ozark and one near Hot Springs.
Read Full Article
Sphere: Related Content
|
|
Posts
