The City Council approved the purchase of a paint striping truck for $257,830 and a laser guiding system that cost $6,870. In comparison, the annual cost of striping the neighborhood roads through contractors is $257,000.
Ken Filipiak, the city’s manager, stated that this is the first in a series of purchases that will make the city’s road painting program completely self-sufficient. The Public Works Director, Matt Schweikert, also said:
“A few years ago, we saw a significant increase in the cost for striping. This is primarily what got us looking at in-house striping. Having our own striper would allow us to respond quickly to emergency needs.”
The city already tended to its own small road painting jobs such as adding “sharrows” (symbols indicating a road shared between cyclists and motorists) on certain streets, although it contracted most of its major pavement-marking work to outside firms. Printing services can be enlisted to help with roadwork projects like this.
JCL Equipment and EZ Liner Industries both put in bids for the truck. EZ Liner Industries put in the lower bid, but News-Herald.com reports that there were more than 40 deviations from the city council’s specifications, including ones to the size of the truck and its overall durability, so the council opted for the JCL Equipment bid.