The Town of Decatur Board of Aldermen met in a special called meeting June 9 to address some emergency repairs to the town’s limb truck, which would be called into service to help with the quickly approaching city-wide cleanup day.
Mayor David Marshall told the board the gear box controlling the boom used to pick up limbs was damaged after being run without oil and needed to be replaced.
“There wasn’t a bit of oil in the gear box,” he said.
The Town of Decatur purchased its limb truck shortly after Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of the state in 2005, and the vehicle has faithfully served in the town’s fleet since. To check the oil in the gear box, Marshall said, the boom had to be rotated straight up and a small dipstick, which the town did not have, had to be inserted into a recessed port sandwiched between the gearbox and the rear of the truck’s cab.
Finding and accessing the port to check the gear box oil was extremely complicated, Marshall said, adding it did not appear the gear box oil had been checked in the 15 years it has belonged to the town.
“Quite understandably that’s why,” he said. “It’s probably never been checked since we got it.”
Marshall told the board he had received a quote to replace the gearbox and one of the truck’s hydraulic pumps for $8,978. Additionally, he said a full maintenance workup, including lubricating parts, topping fluids and inspecting the vehicle was offered for $700.
“I would ask, in case they do find something else, we approve $10,000,” he said.
Alderman Mark Buntyn said the town’s limb truck has had various maintenance issues in the past, but it has been a reliable, useful vehicle for the town. Although the $10,000 request would be a hard hit for the town’s street fund, which has about $12,000 in discretionary funds, he said the truck has proved its usefulness and would be needed for the city-wide cleanup day June 18.
The board approved Marshall’s request of up to $10,000 to repair the town’s limb truck; however, Buntyn said he would like the Decatur Public Works Department to make it a priority to perform annual preventative maintenance on all the town’s equipment moving forward.
