Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
County Attorney Paul Mahoney said it's the first time he's seen the county bar a company.
"In the 10 years I've been here, we haven't done it. We've threatened it, but we haven't gone this far," Mahoney said.
The problems with the three "one-armed bandit" garbage trucks started one week after the county purchased them for $360,000.
One of the trucks blew a hose and spewed 45 gallons of hydraulic fluids. Attempts to pressure-wash the toxic liquid only made the situation worse. The county wound up replacing the lawns of several residents, at a cost of $43,000. But Wayne Engineering agreed to pay only $6,000 of the cleanup costs.
"We still feel the spill was not our fault, and the consequences of the cleanup were definitely not our fault," said attorney William Fralin of Roanoke, who represents the Iowa company.
But that spill, which was one of more than 10 by those trucks in the past year, is not the only problem.
Director of General Services William Rand III showed supervisors and members of the audience part of a failed packing cylinder, which could have led to the injury of one of the county's workers. The cylinder was designed to compact garbage.
There also have been constant repairs to other parts of the garbage trucks. In fact, Rand said, the trucks have been inoperable nearly 20 percent of the time since he got them, and he's sunk thousands of dollars into repairs.
"I've got three trucks that are suspect," said Rand, who believes there is a design flaw with the trucks.
"This is the most serious action we can take. I'm sure we're going to be sued, but the citizens of the county deserve better," Supervisor Bob Johnson said.
Fralin said his client has not ruled out that possibility.
"We stand by our product, and we think it was a somewhat capricious decision," Fralin said. "We have certain legal options that we're evaluating."
Mahoney said the county still is considering a civil suit of its own to recoup the money it invested in the cleanup and the overtime it had to pay workers when the trucks were in for repairs.
"We're comfortable saying, 'Come look at the evidence.' If you were taking the money out of your pocket and you had the number of repairs on a new vehicle that we've had, you wouldn't buy from them a second time either," Mahoney said.
The Board of Supervisors has allocated $140,000 in its proposed 1995-96 budget for a new truck. Had the county not banned Wayne Engineering, it might have been required to purchase from them again - if the company submitted the lowest bid.
To allow the county more flexibility in the future, it will accept proposals from companies for trash trucks as opposed to the competitive sealed bids it has sought in the past, Mahoney said.
With sealed bids, the county gives companies a laundry list of detailed specifications, down to the horsepower on the trucks. With proposals, the county still stipulates its general needs, but the company must "come in and tell us how it will satisfy our performance needs," Mahoney said.
by CNB