City to repair dump truck

GROSSE POINTE CITY — Many people aren’t comfortable using the “s” word yet, but as Michiganders know, measurable snow is coming.

And Grosse Pointe City plans to be ready for it when it arrives. The Grosse Pointe City Council on Oct. 16 unanimously approved repairs to a dump truck used for snowplowing. Detroit-based Santoro Inc. — which Public Services Director Peter Randazzo said has worked on this piece of specialized equipment for the City before — will make the repairs, at a cost of $5,350.28. Randazzo said Santoro was the only local repair facility able to tackle this work, which involves removing the existing snowplow mounting and installing a new undercarriage with thrust arms.

“As we were doing our maintenance checks for the upcoming season, we noticed one of our new older trucks had some severe undercarriage damage,” Randazzo said.

Funds for this are available in the Department of Public Works budget, Randazzo said.

Some officials wondered if the repair was worth it, or if the truck was in imminent need of replacement.

“Is this (truck in) the middle of its life, the end of its life?” Mayor Sheila Tomkowiak asked. “Does it make sense” to fix it rather than replace it?

Randazzo said it “absolutely” made sense to repair the undercarriage. He said this vehicle is in the middle of its life in the City.

“We’re not getting a new plow truck for some time,” Randazzo told the council. That’s why he recommended getting it repaired. The vehicle is a 2019 Freightliner dump truck.

A new dump truck would easily cost in excess of $100,000 to $150,000.

The City’s truck is used for various tasks throughout the year, including plowing, salting roads, hauling metal “and everything in between,” Randazzo said.