By Rich Palzewic
Staff Writer

BELLEVUE – The Bellevue village board held its Wednesday, April 22, meeting remotely and took action on two main agenda items: the purchase of a sewer vacuum truck and a road reconstruction project.

Andy Rowell, director of Public Works, said the village’s 2005 jetter/vacuum sewer truck, which was purchased used in 2013, needs to be replaced.

“Our current vehicle is beyond its useful life, making it ineffective and costly to maintain,” he said. “Hopefully, it will last a few more months until we can purchase a different one.”

Rowell said the sewer truck is one of the most heavily used vehicles in the village fleet.

“The cleaning of the sanitary sewer lines is a daily task during non-winter months,” he said. “We can expect to get 12-15 years out of the vehicle. We push a vehicle out as long as possible, assuming it’s in good, working condition.”

At its April 8 meeting, the board approved the purchase of a used 2016 sewer truck, but it’s currently not available.

“It wouldn’t be available until late May at the earliest, or may not ever become available,” said Rowell. “We are back at the drawing board on finding a good, used machine. In my opinion, part of the issue was not acting quickly enough on the purchase of the used vehicle. Maybe if we had acted quicker, we would have been able to get it. I’m asking for a not-to-exceed-dollar amount to allow us to purchase a used truck if the opportunity arises.”

The board voted 5-0 to allow Rowell and public works to spend up to $300,000 for a different sewer vacuum truck without needing approval from the board.

Rowell also discussed the Willow Road reconstruction project.

The reconstruction would be 1,300 feet east on Willow Road at the South Huron Road intersection.

“This project was already planned when I got here,” he said. “I could see why the board moved forward with this, but now I think we should delay the project – at least for a year, maybe longer.”

Rowell said the road isn’t in the best shape, but it’s serviceable for a few more years.

“It’s a low-volume road right now, except maybe for Sundays with church,” he said. “The number of cars which would be brought to the Willow Glen subdivision – phase 1 had about 80 homes – is about 500 trips per day now, so I’m not worried about the road being able to handle a little more for now.”

Rowell also said with the subdivision being built and new homes being added, there will be lots of truck traffic.

“In my opinion, let the trucks and traffic beat up our old, Willow Road until most of the homes are built in there,” he said. “Then we’d come through and reconstruct the road and make it a better situation.”

The board voted unanimously to put off the reconstruction project until it’s needed.