$1.3M Plow Truck, Parks Vehicle Plan OK’d

The Elicker Administration won its final needed approval to use $1.3 million in one-time pandemic relief dollars to purchase new public works equipment.

That approval came during the latest full Board of Alders meeting Monday night. The meeting took place in person on the second floor of City Hall.

At their bimonthly meeting on Monday, local legislators approved the allocation of $1.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding towards buying eight new vehicles and cutting machines to be used by the city’s public works department.

The approval came over a month after alders OK’d the purchase of new fire and police vehicles with ARPA funding. 

The city plans to buy:

• Two Dump/Plus Trucks (Class VIII), which are primarily used to plow snow and distribute street sand, but are also used for street sweeping, bulk trash collection, and construction.

• Two Grand Master Cutters, which are used to maintain parks and athletic fields.

• One Mason Dump Truck, which is primarily used to transport construction supplies.

• Three Hook Lift Trucks (Class VI), which Parks and Public Works Director Jeffrey Pescosolido described as a ​“mid sized plow truck capable of maneuvering through the narrow streets of New Haven” in his cover letter to the alders.

Finance Committee Chair and Westville Alder Adam Marchand urged colleagues to vote for the purchase Monday: ​“These funds would allow the city to replace aging vehicles that are necessary for the delivery of services to residents.”

The item received a unanimous vote of approval.

This latest ARPA spending approval comes after the alders recently signed off on spending $4.5 million in federal pandemic-relief aid on new police cars, fire trucks, and fire hydrant fixes. Local legislators have already approved spending $53 million in ARPA aid on a mix of housing, vocational technical education, youth engagement, business support, and climate resiliency initiatives, and an additional $43 million on everything from police department surveillance cameras to expanded youth employment programs to a new Department of Community Resilience to budget mitigation efforts for funds lost during the height of the pandemic. And the alders are also currently considering a $3 million plan to fund a new math and literacy tutoring program designed to help up to 1,500 public school students catch up on learning loss during the pandemic.