Lane County News

The Lake Forest City Council has approved the purchase of a replacement front-load sanitation truck for $428,900. This decision was made during the council's meeting on February 3.

According to the City Council's meeting agenda packet, the city will allocate $227,961 for the truck chassis from Truck Center Companies and $200,870 to Macqueen Group for the truck body. Both companies provided pricing through Sourcewell, a service cooperative established by state law to offer programs and services to members in education and government. Sourcewell adheres to competitive contracting process laws.

The minutes packet reveals that the Sanitation Section fleet currently includes three front-load recycle trucks. The new purchase will replace an existing recycle truck that has been operational since 2012 and has accumulated 14,000 operating hours. The staff report indicates significant concerns with the truck's engine, transmission, and body. Deterioration of its engine has led to excessive buildup and failures within the after-treatment system, along with issues in the fuel and air intake systems. The transmission shows signs of degradation and component failures. Additionally, the body of the existing truck is worn out and has been patched multiple times; its hydraulic system also exhibits weak performance.

The meeting agenda packet states that the city had initially budgeted $420,000 for this acquisition. The overage resulted partly from omitting a specification item from the budget—the installation of city stickers and decals. Staff reported that placing orders now would lead to an anticipated delivery date for the chassis in winter 2025/2026, with completion expected by summer 2026. Once operational, the new truck will replace an existing one which will then be sold via a competitive bidding process.