SILVER CREEK - As village residents focus on the present, working tirelessly to clean up in the aftermath of severe flooding this past week, Streets Department Foreman Ralph Crawford looks to the future needs of the village.
At the end of a brief Silver Creek Village Board meeting Monday - held to approve the payment of bills in the amount of $72,521.98 - Crawford requested permission to order a replacement truck for his devastated fleet in anticipation of necessary municipal services down the road. To this effect, board members authorized the purchase of a new dump truck, though no specifics were available at the time of the meeting.
"Seeing as how a few of my trucks were deemed a total loss today, winter's coming ... I need to start doing something; we've got to order something, because we're a couple months (from winter)," he explained to the village board.
According to Crawford, both big trucks used by the streets department were destroyed in the flood. In addition, he said various other vehicles and pieces of equipment - including the street sweeper, wood chipper and sewer vac truck - remain in condemned buildings where their condition is yet to be determined.
However, he said he knows the leaf machine and all mowing equipment was completely submerged in the flood.
Recently, all the buildings housing streets department vehicles and equipment - with the exception of the recently constructed salt barn - were condemned, Crawford explained, and he needs authorization to enter the buildings in order to clear things out and get a better idea of the damages. Mayor Kurt Lindstrom said village officials were told they had 30 days to clean out condemned buildings before they are demolished.
Ultimately, Crawford was left with extremely little to work with, and he explained it's important to begin thinking about replacing equipment for the coming fall and winter months.
Following the resolution authorizing the purchase of a new dump truck, Crawford said he's not sure what type of truck he'll be able to find, but explained he'll need to have it outfitted with plowing equipment.
Afterward, Crawford expressed his utter admiration and appreciation for the assistance received from within and without of the village, both in the midst and aftermath of the flooding this past week.
"I want to thank all the different highway association people that came and all the fire companies, and any volunteer and organization that has come to help our little village," he said after the meeting.
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