Gogebic Range solid waste board purchases second garbage truck

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood — The Gogebic Range Solid Waste Management Authority approved purchasing a second garbage truck Thursday, to be used as a backup if the main truck breaks down.

The truck, a 1999 Crane Carrier Company, is being sold by JB Disposal out of Butternut, Wis.

The authority board approved buying the truck for $22,000 and authorized up to $5,000 in additional repairs, according to administrator Chris Ann Bressette.

Bressette told the board the authority has been borrowing the truck while its primary truck is repaired, and without it, the authority wouldn’t be able to make collections.

“I think we should get it, personally. If it wasn’t for that truck — our truck was down for about three weeks — we would have had no way to (pick) up our Dumpsters, and I think we need to have a backup,” Bressette said.

Bressette said the truck has been without significant issues while the authority has been using it.

In other action:

—The board selected the law firm of O’Dea, Nordeen and Burink as the authority’s legal counsel. The firm was one of three to submit proposals, according to information presented to the board. The lowest bidder, James Bucknell, was missing some required information from his bid.

Ray O’Dea and the Dean Law Office both submitted bids of $115-an-hour for services, although O’Dea charges a reduced rate for work done by the firm’s paralegal.

The board chose O’Dea, as the other municipalities in the area have gone with Dean and the board members expressed a desire to have a different attorney so they wouldn’t have to hire a second attorney because of conflict of interest issues in case of a dispute between the authority and a member.

“What I’m thinking of here is most of the municipalities around here have Mr. Dean as the attorney. I’m just wondering if it wouldn’t make sense for us to have Mr. O’Dea so there is no conflict of interest,” board member Richard Bouvette said.

The authority’s former attorney, Michael Pope, had to step aside from the dispute with the city of Bessemer because of his work with both entities.