Eight sweepers will restore regular street cleaning, say Paterson officials | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Eight sweepers will restore regular street cleaning, say Paterson officials

By Jayed Rahman
Published: September 20, 2019

street-sweepers

Mayor Andre Sayegh showed off a pair of new street sweepers at the public works headquarters on Friday morning while promising residents regular and consistent street cleaning throughout the city.

Sayegh acknowledged his administration has gotten a large amount of complaints from residents unhappy with poor and inconsistent street cleaning.

“Adding these two new sweepers enhances our fleet. We will be at full force,” said Sayegh standing in front of the two new machines at Eastside Park. “We want to better serve our residents. We want them to see a return on their investment.”

The two new machines raise the fleet size to eight sweepers. Homeowners spent $2.1 million to purchase the eight machines. First batch of four sweepers were purchased in 2017 for $1 million; second batch of four more sweepers for $1.1 million was approved last October.

Municipal officials ran into problems with the lease-purchase financing of the machines leading to delays.

“I think this is a great step for Paterson. It shows our initiative to keep the city clean,” said public works director William “Billy” Rodriguez (pictured at podium). The city received 2 machines three months ago and 2 more on Thursday, he said.

The new machines fully replace the seven European machines ex-mayor Jeffery Jones purchased in 2014. Public works officials have said the foreign machines were a poor fit for Paterson. Jones’ ill-advised purchase cost homeowners $1.25 million.

Rodriguez described the Tymco machines as “superior” because of their suction strength. These machines require far less maintenance than the European machines, according to officials.

The city deploys seven machines on a daily basis. This leaves one spare machine for parks or for substitution in case a machine breaks down.

“Now you got equipment. Now you got what you needed — go out there and kick butt,” said councilman Luis Velez, vice chairman of the public works committee. “This will lift the morale of the department.”

Velez urged the public works employees to take good care of the new machines.

“Hopefully our streets will be cleaner than ever,” said Velez.

The new machines will be deployed in two weeks, according to public works officials. Officials said the new machines have to obtain motor vehicle registration and lettering that mark the vehicles as public works trucks.

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