Equipment upgrades continue in Royal

Following a pattern the Royal City Council hopes to continue, purchases of a new skid loader and a payroll subscription update were approved on May 10.

Council members have committed to replacing city equipment on a rotating basis. As the current skid loader is the next item on the list, the council accepted a bid of $53,900 from Sheldon Cat for a Caterpillar skid loader.

Builders Service, of Cherokee, submitted a bid of $54,486 for a Bobcat.

Having never operated a Cat skid loader, Maintenance Superintendent Sherman Nielsen wanted to test one. He was pleased with the result.

"It was a no brainer at that point," he said.

While cost difference was important, the length of the warranty for the Cat skid loader is what convinced the council. The Cat comes with a four-year warranty while Bobcat's is only for two years.

"The four-year warranty makes a big difference to me," said Mayor Pro-tem Jeff Van Westen.

Sale of the current skid loader will coincide with delivery of the new one, which is not anticipated until fall.

The council also authorized City Clerk Barb Fletcher to update the QuickBooks payroll subscription. Cost is approximately $550.

Fletcher has investigated the cost of purchasing additional software upgrades, but feels those are not a high priority at this time.

"For now I'm fine, but we do need to update the payroll," she said.

More discussion was held regarding the roof of the Triangle Park shelter house. It was damaged during the derecho in 2022. A claim was submitted to the city's insurance carrier but the council has not decided whether to reroof the shelter house.

According to discussion, Memorial Day services are to be held at Memorial Park (former football field) in the future. With that in mind, council members questioned whether the cost of reroofing the Triangle Park shelter house was justified.

One option suggested is to sell the shelter house and have it removed, but leave the storage building. The council agreed to discuss the matter at a future meeting.

Further discussion was also held regarding installation of fuel tank storage on city property. Nielsen said the cost of the tank and fuel pumps is approximately $2,700.

"It would not make [fuel] any cheaper. It's just so that we have complete control over the fuel," he explained.

A decision was tabled as the city had not heard back from the insurance agent.