Resolution clears way for purchase of new snow truck
The Daily Mail
Dec. 18, 2008

Christmas came early this year for the Cairo Highway Department thanks to a resolution passed by Cairo Town Supervisor John Coyne and the town board at Wednesday night’s meeting.

The resolution grants approval for the department to replace a 1978 Oshkosh snow truck whose engine, department staff believe, might not make it through the winter.

Town Highway Superintendent Steven Rumph plans on adding a 2009 Paystar truck to his fleet next year.

Rumph approached the council, saying that the department as a budget of $38,000 for leasing the truck, and half of next year’s budget could be used as a down payment.
“The truck we are trying to replace will be 31 years old,” he said.

The department operates four other Oshkosh trucks, which were manufactured in 1985.
Rumph said that the scarcity and price of replacement parts for Oshkosh trucks make them less desirable than Paystar trucks.

Councilman Richard Lorenz supported Rumph’s request.

“It’s a necessity,” he said of the new truck.

Board members inquired as to whether the truck could be purchased outright, but Rumph said that doing so would be far too costly for the department. The base cost of a 2009 Paystar truck is $128,000, which does not include any special features.

The department is already facing an estimate of almost $65,000 for equipment costs, which includes plows.

Councilman Raymond Suttmeier asked the board to pass the resolution with a stipulation that it would include a financing plan, which will be written at a later date, and Coyne agreed that a plan or a time frame should be worked out.

Last week’s ice storm cost the department more than $20,000 in labor, fuel and de-icing agent costs. An 11-person crew worked around the clock from Thursday morning until Friday afternoon salting, sanding and plowing.

Rumph said that the team was already preparing for the storms forecast for Friday and Sunday.