COVINGTON, Ga. — Council members approved spending more than $350,000 for two trucks for the city’s Street Department.
During the Covington City Council’s March. 1 meeting, the city council voted to award bids for a new knuckle boom truck and leaf truck from Environmental Products Group. The Peterson TL3 Lightning boom truck cost $149,600 and the Extreme Vac DLC 800SM3X leaf truck cost $204,900.
Neither bid awarded was the lowest, but Covington Transportation Manager John King said each truck purchased “met the requested specifications where others did not.”
The low bid for the knuckle boom truck was from “Peachstate Freightliner” in the amount of $147,805 — only $1,795 less.
The low bid for the leaf truck was from “Peachstate C15:E29 Freightliner (Demo)” in the amount of $174,597, which would have saved the city $30,303.
In addition to the trucks, the council also approved an $84,800 bid from Wrecking Corp. of America LLC to have yard debris collected at the street department’s sanitation ward and the sanitation office located at 5120 Turner St. demolished. The office has not been used since 2019 and recently suffered significant damages from a water leak.
King said funds for the pick-up and demolition were budgeted into the current fiscal year.
There were nine total bids; only three were less than $90,000. The highest bid was Gecon Construction, Inc. at $318,000.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the final reading of an ordinance to amend the city’s zoning overlay area for the Covington Town Center project to increase the amount of residential space from 350 units to 625 units.
• Approved sending a letter to Newton County legislators in opposition of Georgia Senate Bill 256, which could change the make-up and operation of local health department boards.
• Approved alcohol licenses for Bread and Butter, located at 1124 Monticello St., and Woven LLC, located at 1140 Church St.
• Approved an exterior finish requirement exception for a site developer within the Covington/Newton Industrial Park.
• Heard Mayor Steve Horton read a proclamation commemorating Newton County’s Bicentennial.
• Approved adding a Land Application System Operator position for the Public Works Department.
• Approved sending a letter requesting Northeast Georgia Regional Commission’s assistance with writing an application for a One Georgia Grant to support the development of Process Equipment & Controls’ facility along Hazelbrand Road.
