Woodbridge Pays $90k for an Excavator to Dredge Debris-Filled Streams

Five years ago, the town of Harrison, NY purchased a heavy duty excavating machine for $243,000, and then discovered they didn't have the need for the equipment or the manpower to operate it.

Last night, the council voted to buy the Menzi Muck Excavator, trailer, and attachments for $90,000 - a steal compared to the original price.

But it might be less than the bargain of the century: the Harrison public works commissioner said that the Woodbridge bid of $90,000 was $50,000 more than than anyone else offered for the equipment.

“We tried to work with Westchester County to get them to purchase it, but that was not accomplished,” Harrison Board Trustee Fred Sciliano said in an article in the Daily Harrison.

Woodbridge Township is hoping to use the excavator to dredge brooks and culverts so that residents with homes in flood-prone areas can get some relief.

"It works off a bridge, it can go into seven feet of water," said Woodbridge Director of Public Works Dennis Henry as he explained the advantages of the Swiss-made Menzi excavator. "We hope to use it to pull out silt and muck and give relief to homeowners."

During the onslaught of Hurricane Irene last August, many of the flood ravaged sections of the township had a hard time of it. The , parts of Colonia and Port Reading, and other sections of town had flood problems that township officials thought might be solved if debris clogged streams could be efficiently cleared.

Harrison officials purchased the machine to alleviate their own flood conditions, but they discovered impediments that made the use of the machine impossible.

The Harrison Public Works Commissioner Anthony Robinson said there "were only a few places" inside the town where the excavator "could fit" to do the work required of it. There was also the problem that some of the brooks and streams were on private property which Harrison didn't have access to, the Daily Harrison article said.

“It seemed like a good idea to purchase it at the time but it didn’t work out for practical reasons,” Robinson was quoted as saying.

No one at the Woodbridge council meeting discussed whether the township faces any of the same issues that caused Harrison to unload their excavator. 

The Menzi machine also requires a specially trained operator to pilot it. In Harrison, they didn't have the manpower to use the machine. 

"[Harrison] lost their operator and they had to cut back," Henry said at the council meeting.

Woodbridge public works employees will receive special training to operate the excavator, which has 103 metered hours of use on it. 

Business Administrator Robert Landolfi said the Menzi excavator has a warranty, but he wasn't sure what the length was on the almost five-year-old machine.