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LANETT — In action taken by the Lanett City Council on Tuesday, the city’s electrical department will be getting a much-needed piece of equipment and the senior center could be getting two new passenger buses.

Those items were dealt with in a called meeting during the noon hour.

The electrical department will be getting a multi-purpose digger derrick truck. It will be replacing a model that’s more than 25 years old and is given to many breakdowns due to its constant use over its lifespan.

The truck can dig holes up to 18 inches wide and ten feet deep but does much more than put power poles in the ground. Its main purpose will be to lift and put in place heavy items such as major transformers. The current truck in use has trouble lifting anything that weighs more than a couple of hundred pounds. A new one can lift, set and place transformers that weigh several tons.

The truck has a high price tag. It will be purchased from previous supplier AlTech Capital Services for $284,568.

Council Member Tony Malone asked Summers if other options were considered. He said that they had been but that AlTech equipment and servicing had served the city well for a long time.

“We will use this truck for more than digging holes,” he said. “It can set transformers that weigh up to 14,000 pounds each.”

The present truck has been in service since 1998 and is frequently in need of repair. Summers said the city has been in need of a new one for several years now. “We have had it in our budget requests for the past three years,” he said. “It has gotten to the point where AlTech won’t repair it anymore if it breaks down on us. They will sell us parts we need but they won’t guarantee repair work on a vehicle that’s been in use for that long.”

Summers said there had been situations in the recent past where his department had to call West Point or ISS when they needed to do some heavy lifting.

Council Member Ronnie Tucker asked Summers if the city had an immediate need for this piece of equipment.

He said there’s no question it’s needed, citing a situation that had taken place at Kroger when they had to call ISS for help in replacing a transformer because the city’s aging truck couldn’t lift it.

The council approved the purchase in a unanimous action.

The purchase had been on last Monday’s regular meeting agenda but was delayed to make sure the purchase was permitted by the state’s bid law. There wasn’t a lower priced digger derrick truck on the current state bid list.

Code Enforcement Officer Johnny Wood talked to the council about the need for two new senior buses. The city got two new buses two years ago but both have wheelchair lifts than limits each bus to nine passengers. An opportunity is out there now to purchase two more new ones that don’t have these lifts. Each one of these buses can carry up to 14 passengers.

The buses can be gotten through an 80/20 grant program. The city would pay 20 percent of the total cost of $186,834, The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) would take up the remaining portion.

Council Member Tucker said the city had an aging transit van that’s in need of replacing. “It rattles and shakes you to death when you ride on it,” he said. “It would be nice if we could replace it.”