Plainfield approves several new purchases

Like a young child putting together a Lego town, Plainfield has gathered a variety of items recently.

Four police cars, 800 trees and a $300,000 street sweeper were among the items approved for purchase Sept. 16 at the Plainfield Village Board meeting.

“These are budgeted items that were anticipated,” Director of Public Works Allen Persons noted.

The biggest purchase was a 2020 Elgin Crosswind street sweeper for $297,670.

“This particular piece is looking to replace a piece of equipment that’s nearly 20 years old,” Persons said. “(The old one) isn’t in service anymore and needs repairs.”

The street sweeper will handle more than 400 miles or roadway within the village, the downtown business district and 65 subdivisions. The street sweeper will also clean out storm sewer catch basins and clean up after repaired.

The Illinois-built machine will be ready for delivery late next spring or early next summer, according to sales contracts submitted to the village.

By that time, street cleaning will be scheduled by a computer running Windows 10 software.

Plainfield has been using an older version for several years, but Information Technology Director Rick Kaczanko said Microsoft stopped most customer support four years ago and will completely retire the software in January. The village has 165 workstations that will be getting Windows 10 licenses at a total cost of $18,597.15.

Plainfield is also spending money to dispose of, well, other items. The village has renewed a contract for Stewart Spreading to remove the byproduct from the wastewater treatment plant.

According to Persons, Plainfield generates 1,000 tons of sludge each year. While clean water can be returned to the DuPage River, the rest is removed from the plant and used as fertilizer at an area farm. The soil is tested to comply with EPA standards. The contract pays Stewart Spreading $15.41 per cubic yard of fertilizer.

Plainfield also agreed to purchase $200,000 worth of trees that will be used to replace some damaged by the Emerald Ash borer, which damaged more than 5,500 trees here. Persons said this round of replacements will be planted beginning in mid-October and include the parkways on 119th and 135th streets.

The board also approved purchasing three 2020 Ford Utility Police Interceptors and a 2020 Ford Expedition for police patrol and emergency management.