Utility Board recommends purchase of refuse trucks

ALBANY — The Albany Utility Board voted Thursday morning to recommend that the Albany City Commission approve spending more than $450,000 for a pair of refuse trucks.

City Central Services Buyer II Dale Henry told the Utility Board his research had led him to a pair of vehicles available for quick delivery upon approval. One, a demo, had a price tag of $225,383.79 and would be available for delivery immediately, Henry told the board. The other, which came with a price tag of $233,546.29, would be ready for delivery within 10 days after approval.

“We have two of our refuse trucks running this morning,” Assistant City Manager Phil Roberson told the board. “This funding (for the new refuse vehicles) is a CIP request in the next budget, but we’re asking you and the City Commission to move the process forward.”

The board also voted to declare two of the city’s old refuse trucks as surplus and offer them for sale on the govdeals.com website.

The Utility Board also voted to approve a new contract with Union Credit of Albany for collection services. The contract comes with an estimated cost of $81,813.20, but City Manager Sharon Subadan said that amount represents a 20 percent total of expected collections by the company.

“We expect they will recover up to $400,000 (in uncollected bills), but it could be more or less,” Subadan. “The estimate is their percentage of expected collections.”

Procurement Manager Mike Trotter said Central Services had bid the contract and that Union Credit has done satisfactory work with the city.

Mary Singleton and Monique Broughton, who were part of the rebranding team that helped facilitate development of the city’s new logo and mission and vision statements, gave a brief summary of the group’s efforts and showed the video ad created as part of the campaign.

“When I arrived here, I found the city’s brand and visual identity were very disparate,” Subandan said. “We embarked on a rebranding campaign to put the city under one umbrella, one voice. We’re actively rolling out the campaign, and I’ve been encouraged by the response we’ve been getting. We’re especially getting some complementary calls about the logo on the water tank (in northwest Albany).”