Heavy equipment replacement approved

More than $1.4 million in heavy equipment purchases were authorized unanimously Thursday by Carson City’s Board of Supervisors.

The board voted to let city government’s Public Works Department buy a Caterpillar wheel loader for $418,041, a Caterpillar excavator for $329,354 and a Caterpillar tractor for $672,931. The overall total is $1,420,326 and was budgeted in the capital outlay/landfill equipment account in the city’s capital projections fund. The money comes from medium term bond proceeds.

Board members were informed by Public Works the equipment that must be replaced is well beyond its expectable operating period, which has been termed its useful life.

The board, also without dissent, determined Impact Construction of Gardnerville was the lowest responsive bidder and awarded a contract to that firm for a BMX Track Lighting Project for the BMX track, a project pending for years. The pact is for almost $155,000 plus a contingency amount that takes the total to $169,699.95.

The lighting project will be financed from the capital projects/construction accounts in the Quality of Life Fund, the residential construction tax fund and the grant fund.

A $100,000 contract also was approved with Manhard Consulting LTD, which has a Carson City office, to provide on-call engineering and consulting services for city utility system modeling assistance and evaluation through mid-2015.

The city’s Fiscal Year 2014-15 property tax rate of $3.54 per $100 of taxable value was finalized by resolution, but that was a formality signaled earlier during budget deliberations and discussion of revenue projections. The action, which came on a 4-1 vote with Supervisor Jim Shirk dissenting as he had previously, merely rubber-stamped the previous action and certification of it by the state.

In addition, the board selected Mark Kimbrough to serve on the city’s Regional Transportation Commission. Kimbrough, formerly a city Planning Commission member, was selected over another applicant for the volunteer post.