Street Sweeper Maker Agrees to Fix Machines
A distributor who sold the city of Los Angeles 25 street cleaning machines acknowledged on Wednesday that the equipment is mechanically flawed and subject to repeated breakdowns--which city officials blame for a backlog of unswept streets in residential neighborhoods.
But Ken Rust, the Southern California distributor for Elgin Sweeper Co., said the manufacturer has agreed to spend $14,000 apiece to overhaul the machines, even though the two-year warranties on the sweepers will begin to expire by the time repair work begins in February.
“We do not intend to leave the city high and dry after the warranty expires,” said Rust, representing the Illinois-based manufacturer at a hearing before the city’s Board of Public Works. “Elgin recognizes your investment, and its reputation.”
At full strength, city street maintenance crews need 84 sweepers to cover scheduled routes. Because of the mechanical problems, the average number of sweepers available each day fell into the low 60s several weeks ago, although lately there have been between 71 and 79, said David Reed, acting director of the street maintenance bureau.
As complaints from Los Angeles officials increased, Elgin last month paid to have one of the Los Angeles sweepers shipped back to its Illinois headquarters for examination. A malfunction was found in the heat-exchange system that causes the sweepers to overheat, Rust said.
Although he said an identical sweeper was sold to the city of Alhambra and officials there “were so pleased they bought two more,” Rust assured the board officials that Elgin is “not going to walk away from this.”
The Elgin machines, which cost $55,725 each, are not the only sweepers giving the city problems. As part of a $5.6-million plan begun two years ago to upgrade its aging fleet of street-cleaning equipment, the city also bought 54 sweepers manufactured by FMC Corp. from Ray Kern Equipment Co., a Pomona distributor.
The FMC sweepers, which cost $71,985 each, have been experiencing problems in their hydraulic systems. But the distributor has already begun to repair those machines, said John Cotti, assistant general manager of the General Services Department, and the city has therefore turned its attention toward problems with the Elgin sweepers.
Because of the various equipment breakdowns, the city has been unable to clean an average of 30% of the residential routes with posted signs calling for weekly street sweeping, Reed said. Most of these streets are in the Central and South-Central neighborhoods.
In outlying areas--including the San Fernando Valley and the eastern, western and southern portions of Los Angeles, where streets are normally scheduled for cleaning once a month--city crews have extended the interval between cleanings to as much as seven weeks, Reed said. “We’re starting to see some improvement in those averages,” he said.
The problems with equipment have not affected street cleaning in business districts and along major highways.
City Council members report a sharp increase in the number of people in residential areas complaining that their streets are not being swept.
“People are rightly upset,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who held a press conference on Tuesday to announce that he had introduced a council motion asking for an investigation by the chief administrative office.
