With the onset of spring, many of us may feel like we are coming out of hibernation ready for warm sunshine and more time spent outdoors. However, there is one group who “kept on trucking” through the worst winter days we experienced these past few months. Sanitation crews from Collierville Public Services did not miss a day of garbage collection and managed to safely stay on schedule.
“Our employees deserve praise for completing every route accident free,” said Public Services Director Bill Kilp. “Installing chains on the automated cart collection trucks kept the crews safe as they traveled over the icy roads.”
When temperatures dropped below freezing, the trucks were protected from the elements while not in use.
In 2012, The Town purchased twelve acres from Craig Lumber Company including two large metal warehouse type buildings. Utilizing the newly acquired warehouse space, garbage trucks were parked inside the metal building.
While the warehouse is not heated, it is warm enough to keep the trucks hydraulics from freezing; this also allowed sanitation crews to stay on schedule.
In addition to using the property to store equipment, the Town plans on utilizing the structures for multi-functional purposes. The East building, located along Progress Road, will become the new Parks Maintenance facility with office space and an area for equipment maintenance.
The West building will be primarily used for storage purposes as it has been used for the garbage trucks the past few years.
“This property met several needs of our long range facility plan. As the Town grows so does our fleet of equipment,” said General Services Director, Derek Honeycutt. “We were able to purchase the land and existing structures for a great price thus saving the Town the costs of purchasing land and constructing a new facility. We did a few modifications to bring the buildings up to code, but overall the buildings were ready for our use.”
Last week, the Collierville Fire Department used the land behind the warehouses for vehicle extraction safety training.
Donated cars were brought to the property for firefighters to practice emergency rescue scenarios and train with heavy rescue equipment.
“The town originally looked into construction of a Town-wide warehouse for the storage of materials and records,” said Town Administrator James Lewellen. “But the cost exceeded the budgeted amount. This property had the storage needed for multiple departments, was within our budget and is located within close proximity of the Public Services Complex. This made the property economically advantageous for the Town’s future expansion needs.”
