At the Cazenovia Town Board meeting on March 14, announcements were made detailing recent equipment sales and acquisitions. A 2004 Mack truck, formerly used for snowplowing, will be sold to the Town of Union for $100,000. A 2001 International truck was sold to the Town of Niskayuna for $20,000. Two pickup trucks and a Unimog have been purchased.
Town Councilor Pat Race described a 15-year plan that would create a $120,000 budget surplus. Cazenovia will offer to sell older maintenance vehicles to surrounding municipalities, which will keep all of the town’s equipment under warranty and subsequently cut down on repair expenses.
“By stretching our payments out through municipal leasing, we’ll have everything up to date; no main-line plows over seven years old, no motors, no pickups or one-ton trucks out of warranty. At the end, when we’ve been able to stay within the budget we should have a surplus of $119,000,” Race said. “That’s actually a conservative estimate. I think this will work very well, we just have to be creative.”
The 2004 Mack truck was originally purchased by Cazenovia for $166,000. Still in good condition, Union was proactive in acquiring the vehicle. Some of the public in attendance voiced concerns on the price. While the amount was more than some of the town councilors expected to net, residents wondered if further discussion would procure an additional $10,000.
Using this transaction as a guideline for future sales, the town councilors expressed satisfaction with the price compromise, hoping to establish a respectable reputation for future negotiations.
In addition to selling older plows, the town has acquired a few new pieces of equipment. As well as the purchase of two 2011 pickup trucks, the Town of Cazenovia Highway Department recently obtained a Unimog from the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pa. via the New York State Office of General Services, for the discounted price of $3,500.
Unimogs were originally developed by Mercedes-Benz for use by the military in 1951. The four-wheel-drive vehicle was originally used to create bunkers in the battlefield, but have the possibility of attaching a variety of accessories. The town of Cazenovia hopes to utilize this vehicle for snow removal, construction projects and other heavy-duty maintenance.
A shipping incident which resulted in a broken windshield has led to a possible acquisition of a second Unimog, free of charge. As the vehicles are in high demand, the NYSOGS is currently looking for a “spare” Unimog to send Cazenovia.
