AAA Sweeping awarded street cleanup job
At its meeting Tuesday the Spokane Valley City Council awarded AAA Sweeping a $473,687 contract to handle the city’s street sweeping this year, the latest step in a plan established last year that would transfer much of the street upkeep now handled by Spokane County to the city or private firms.
The Spokane Valley company did $98,000 in sweeping for the city last fall and was the only company to submit a bid to handle the sweeping this year.
Two weeks earlier, there was some trepidation among council members over awarding the contract when only one company expressed interest in doing the work. According to a city report, the county has said that 2006 will be the last year it sweeps for the city, leaving the Spokane Valley with the choice of hiring the lone bidder or buying the equipment and doing the work itself.
At that meeting, Public Works Director Neil Kersten said that AAA did a good job last fall and charges the same or less than the county. It would take several months for the city to buy and house sweepers of its own, and Kersten advised that the city try the private contract for a year and then see which option makes the most sense.
There was little discussion on the sweeping among the council Tuesday as it approved unanimously the one-year contract with the option for the city manager to sign up to seven, year-long contract renewals.
In other council news:
“City Manager Dave Mercier announced that 26-year Spokane County Sheriff’s Office veteran Rick Van Leuven will be the city’s new police chief.
“City planners made their recommendation for a consultant to help the city negotiate with property owners to develop a city center near University and Sprague.
Six firms, all from outside Spokane, submitted bids, and two were interviewed.
Members of the staff recommended that Clearpath LLC of Seattle be awarded the $50,000 contract. The firm currently is working on city center projects in Bothell and Tukwila, Wash., and other urban redevelopment projects in the Washington cities of Shoreline, Lynnwood and Des Moines.