City Council
Nearly $60,000 would buy a dozen trailers for snow and lawn crews.
A South Side council member said his district looks like a jungle this year, largely because crews lack trailers. On Sept. 2, council agreed to move forward with buying 12 new landscaping trailers for nearly $60,000. Crews have only two now to haul lawn and snow equipment. The acting fleet manager said a dozen is the minimum to work efficiently.
Written by Amy Whipple
A new Department of Public Works (DPW) purchase could help cut back the city’s overgrowth problem.
Council agreed to move forward with the Department of Public Works’s (DPW) request to purchase a dozen new landscaping trailers.
Acting fleet manager Branwyn Turnage said during the Sept. 2 committee meeting that the nearly $60,000 purchase — allocated from the DPW trust fund — would benefit both the parks and streets departments. She said 12 is the minimum necessary to allow DPW to efficiently transport snow removal and lawncare equipment as well as address 311 calls.
There are currently two trailers for these purposes.
Council Member Bob Charland of the South Side said not having enough trailers has contributed to “the filthy condition that my district is in right now.” He said, “It looks like a jungle there this year, and a large part of that is the trailer issue and borrowing trailers from Environmental Services and elsewhere.”
Additionally, the DPW division that covers the South Hills neighborhoods has been working out of the Strip District for nine years while waiting for a new building in Knoxville. “We’re also adding like an hour of time into every little job to move a lawnmower in or throw it in the back of a pickup truck,” Charland said.
The building is currently slated to open later this fall.
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