The truck had been budgeted for $150,000.

The Pollution Control Facility, which treats Hastings’ wastewater, contacted three semi tractor manufacturers, all of which projected order delivery dates beyond the 2022-23 capital budget. Two of the manufacturers projected into 2025.

Nebraska Peterbilt informed the PCF a truck that meets specifications would be available in February due to an order cancellation.

Utility Manager Kevin Johnson said the truck could be purchased without reopening the capital budget.

“It’s a tractor that meets our specs,” Johnson told the council. “Even though it is $46,000 higher, we are projecting, and what Brandan (Lubken, director of underground operations) and all of the management team have bought into is providing analytics to help us justify any expenses over budget.”

The Pollution Control Facility currently uses a contracted truck and driver for $760 per day.

Director of Underground Operations Brandan Lubken said at the Hastings Utility Board meeting on Thursday he had no qualms with the contractor’s service. Lubken described the contractor as “a very good contractor, very reliable.”

But HU could save money by owning its own truck.

Amortizing the semi over eight years, capturing costs such as fuel, maintenance and other consumables, the estimated cost would be about $320 per day. With a daily savings of $439.66 and 220 days hauling the sludge each year, the sewer budget stands to save $96,725 in one year’s time.

There would be no extra labor cost for the Pollution Control Facility. Two Pollution Control Facility employees have commercial driver’s licenses already, and two more employees will take classes to get their CDLs.

The Pollution Control Facility converts primary waste into fertilizer, which is applied to farm ground using a sludge application machine. That vehicle was deemed a few years ago too heavy when full to run on county roads, so instead the truck brings the fertilizer to the applicator.

The utility department previously purchased a trailer that could handle the material.

Lubken wrote in a memo to Johnson about the proposed purchase that with $5.3 million in the sewer capital budget for 2022-23 and a three-year execution rate on capital spending around 50%, the department should stay well within the overall sewer capital budget.

“There’s just so many variables that come into play within the utility department that we seem to be challenged to spend everything we’re authorized to spend,” Johnson told the council.

Also during the meeting, Director of Engineering Lee Vrooman gave an update on snow removal, saying street department crews will continue to plow streets as they thaw.

“Hopefully we get some more sunshine and more thawing,” he said.

He also thanked other entities that aided the street department in snow removal efforts including the Hastings Parks and Recreation Department.

“That was a big help to us,” he said.

During Mayor’s Communications, Mayor Corey Stutte read a proclamation designating Jan. 22-28 as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Week in the city of Hastings.

The council also unanimously approved the second of three readings of Ordinance No. 4728 requesting voluntary annexation to bring a tract of land where the new Adams County Jail is being constructed into the corporate limits of the city of Hastings for property generally located on the southeast corner of Baltimore Avenue and M Street and repealing Ordinance No. 4703. The first reading passed Jan. 9.

Council members also unanimously approved out-of-district water and sewer connection fees for 2023.