The Sea Cliff Board of Trustees closed out 2024 by unanimously approving the purchase of a new garbage truck and dump truck during their meeting on Dec. 30.
The decision, made during the Dec. 30 meeting, was made after one of the current trucks went down with a maintenance issue and could no longer function. Sea Cliff Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy presented the issue to the board and discussed the possible replacement options.
“The minimum to order and fix the broken part is going to be $40,000 and it will take at least eight weeks to come, many people are convinced it will end up being a $100,000,” Kennedy said. “We bought these trucks 14 years ago and their expected life is 10 years, so it now becomes a matter of do we want to put $100,000 into repairing this truck or get a new one for $300,000.”
Kennedy also provided the board with details about the new truck and explained how garbage collection will continue in the meantime.
“If we were to order a truck today it would take around 18-24 months to be delivered to us,” Kennedy said. “We do have a backup truck that’s about 25 years old, it’s got its issues but it is still serviceable for the time being.”
Elena Villafane, the Mayor of Sea Cliff, discussed how the village would finance the new truck and addressed new parking regulations that might need to be implemented.
“The question is whether we bond this or pay cash for it. I am not inclined to pay cash for it because it is a capital expense, it would not be a good utilization because we would have to take it out of our fund balance,” Villafane said. “We also would have to change parking regulations in bay, but that is not a new issue this issue just brings it to the forefront.”
The board also discussed the purchase of a new dump truck that would help the community with larger waste items such as furniture, large branches, or landscaping issues.
“I have to talk to Judy about the interest rates, but it might make sense to do the dump truck along with the garbage truck for a better rate,” Villafane said. “We were supposed to do the dump truck in 2022, but it got delayed, I would like to talk with Mark and James about the interest’s rates and have Bruce move forward with this.”
Kennedy said that the cost for a new dump truck now would be $86,000 and it could be even more than that after letters and lights are put on the truck. Kennedy said Gabrielli, the company where they will be purchasing the dump truck, has trucks ready to be purchased and commented on the benefits of a gasoline powered truck instead of diesel.
“Gabrielli has a couple of trucks that are in the lot that are gasoline, and I am now leaning towards gasoline powered vehicles rather than diesel,” Kennedy said. “We are of the belief that the maintenance cost of the gasoline will be cheaper because of the way we drive the trucks.”
The board voted unanimously in favor of both a new garbage truck and a new dump truck and will hold a zoom meeting to discuss the interest rates and payment options.
The board also briefly discussed an ongoing issue with contractors for the 299 Prospect Avenue property.
Contractors requested permission to access the property through the village-owned 325 Prospect Avenue property, claiming that the topography makes front access challenging.
Villafane said that the contractors were going through the 325 Prospect property before their initial request and we’re caught and are now looking for permission to go through this property to work on the house, despite their request already being denied several times.
“The contractors for the 299 Prospect Avenue property said because of the topography it was difficult to come through the front, so they made themselves a little trail going through and behind the 325 Prospect Avenue property,” Villafane said. “They did not have permission and were caught coming through the parking lot with equipment and cutting down the fence that was there to get through.”
The board denied the contractors’ request to continue using the 325 property for access and plans to follow up regarding repairs for the damage caused to the parking lot area.
