The city just got a brand new street sweeper and it didn’t cost a penny – proving that sometimes the best things really are free.
“This is a huge gift for the city,” said George Linngren, Spring Lake Park Public Works Director.
“It’s a heck of a gift,” said Cory Haugen from the Public Works Department.
Funding for the state-of-the-art Elgin Pelican sweeper came via a $290,000 grant from the Minnesota Board of Water Resources and a 30k grant from the Coon Creek Watershed.
“It’s brand new,” Linngren said. “Mechanical 2025 sweeper. A lot of them are in use. It’s a $318,000 sweeper. We’re gonna start sweeping this week. We have to do the whole city four times a year. Typically we did it twice. We’ll go from 107 lane miles up to 323 lane miles.”
“This thing is just like a Cadillac compared to the older one,” Haugen said. “All the holes in the door would bring in dust. This thing is dust-free. Really nice machine.”
Sweeping in luxury
The new toy has public works employees pumped up.
“Yeah,” Haugen said. “This is a great piece of equipment.”
Now Haugen and his cohorts sweep streets in heated or air conditioned luxury.
“Thankfully the city was looking to move forward on this,” Haugen said. “It’s such a nice gift for us to make the job easier.”
They can also easily maneuver up and down city streets to keep stuff out of catch basins – which keeps area waterways clean.
“It’s a great win-win,” Haugen said. “Great win for the city and a great win for the watershed district to keep the sand and debris out of the ponds.”
“We’ll be able to do continuous sweeping from fall to the first snowfall to get the leaves off the road which will help with the phosphorus load into the river…” Linngren said. “Taking 43 pounds per year out and the suspended solids were going to be taking a 1.3 ton reduction of suspended solids. It will help all the way around.”
“Street sweeping is really a necessity in the springtime,” Haugen said. “Also in the fall to gather up all the leaves and the debris on the streets.
The sweeper will also be used to clean areas in advance for pothole patching and street projects.
