Equipment purchase approved

The city’s street department will upgrade its equipment.

Portland Board of Works approved the purchase of a new E55 Bobcat Compact Excavator for the street department during its meeting Thursday.

Street and parks department superintendent Matt Shauver presented the request for the new equipment, saying the E55 model would allow for a wider range of work and improve safety. (The city currently uses an E35 model.) The larger model has about double the lifting capacity.

It would also handle a jackhammer attachment and would allow for other attachments, such as a mower for ditches. Shauver said his department has rented a jackhammer for sidewalk work several times this year.

He told the board the city has installed more than 200 linear yards of sidewalks so far this year.

Shauver presented a quote of $40,143.78 after trade-in and an additional $13,113.12 for a jackhammer attachment from South Bluffton Bobcat. He said money is available in the street department’s concrete fund for the excavator and the city’s water and wastewater departments agreed to split the cost of the jackhammer. (He noted the water and wastewater departments use the current excavator occasionally as needed.)

“I really think it’s a good investment,” said board of works member Jerry Leonhard.

Board of works members Steve McIntosh, Mayor Jeff Westlake and Leonhard unanimously approved the purchase.

The board also approved a $7,000 contract with Wessler Engineering to update the city’s risk resilience assessment and emergency response plan. America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 requires municipalities to have such a plan in place. Portland’s is due to be updated by the end of 2026.