(3/22) Following a comment from a resident about debris in Town gutters, Town staff informed the Council that the street sweeping service that the Town had contracted with in 2021 to sweep the streets three times a year had stopped coming last spring, with no prior notification to the Town or reason given.
"They didn’t even bother to send us a bill for the last time they came," Town staff said, they just up and disappeared.
In November 2021, the Town Council voted unanimously to approve having the Town’s streets swept by a professional street sweeping company at least three times a year.
At that time, Barnes informed the Council that the Town had reached out to the company that Walkersville uses and had received an estimate for $1,440 to $1,920 per sweep. As the sweeper will be rented by the Town by the hour, the difference in final cost per sweep will be based upon the condition of the streets at the time. Using the estimate provided, the Town had budgeted for between $4,500 and $6,000 for three sweeps. "We can add another [sweep] if three ends up not being enough," Barnes said at the time.
When asked if the Town’s gutters could be cleaned by the Town’s "walk behind" one man sweeper, the staff said no. "We no longer have anyone to operate it."
Commissioner Cutshall shook his head in disbelief about only now learning that the Town had lost not only the commercial street sweeping service, but the ability for the Town to sweep the streets itself, and said that he hopes the situation can be resolved quickly.
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