Collegedale’s Public Works Department is updating its fleet of vehicles. Some of the them have high mileage. One of the new trucks will add to the fleet and the others will be replacements. At the meeting on Jan. 6, the commissioners began the process when they voted to buy three new trucks. At the meeting held Tuesday, another truck was declared surplus and will be put up for auction. It is a 2002 Ford F350 with 196,000 miles.
Commissioner Laura Howse praised Public Works Director Kris McAloon for the “terrific job” that the department did to clear the roads. When asked about his first winter event as public works director, he said it was a great experience for the way the department responded and worked together. One problem occurred though when a hydraulic hose broke. That reduced the department’s capacity for responding to the snow and ice. But he asked and received assistance from both TDOT and the city of Cleveland. Collegedale has four snow plow trucks, but he said it is not enough and he said he will be looking to improve the equipment before next year.
Commissioner Howse and Mayor Morty Lloyd visited the Hamilton County Emergency Management Offices and said once they saw all they have to offer, she started thinking about holding a storm safety day for the city. She hopes to have people there from emergency management that could program weather radios and to have Ace Hardware there selling them. Mayor Lloyd said that Verizon has an alert service that can be subscribed to. It will increase communication by sending out text messages about alerts and emergencies. Expanding use of that service will be explored.
The city received a final bill for the emergency repairs to Pine Hill Road and at the Tuesday night meeting, the commissioners approved paying $243,381 - the cost of those repairs. The price of the work came in significantly under the original estimated cost of $350,000.
The December financial report from Michelle Toro showed that at 50 percent of the way through the fiscal year, the city has received 27 percent of the income it expects to receive for the year. The city has paid 57 percent of what is expected expenses, and revenue is coming in as it should for this time of the year, she said.