Council Approves Aerial Lift Purchase

City workers often need to be lifted high above the streets, especially during the holiday season, when Christmas decorations are going up.

Public Works Director Ismile H. Noorbaksh said his department consequently was placed in a bind recently when its 13-year-old aerial lift machine broke down. Repair costs were prohibitive, Noorbaksh said, so he sought an emergency purchase of a new lift for $18,000.

The City Council this week approved Noorbaksh’s request, and the Public Works Department will be getting a new 30-foot aerial lift. The device, which is mounted on a truck, has a basket, often called a “cherry picker,” on the end of elevating levers. A worker rides in the basket to the height needed.

“It is used for installing and maintaining street signs, parkway and park lights, banners, tree trimming, maintaining city water reservoirs and other uses along the streets and within parks,” Noorbaksh told the council. “The Public Works Department has a dire need for an aerial lift to efficiently carry out its operation.”

City Council members said they agreed that a new lift had to be purchased immediately, and they unanimously voted for the emergency expenditure.