Federal dollars could be used to buy new plow trucks in the city of Warren.

The aging fleet was put in the spotlight during our last two major snow events, including the double digit snowfall on Martin Luther King Day.

Fifth Ward City Councilwoman Ashley Miner says equipment and speed go hand in hand and they need new trucks to improve plow service.

"We are in desperate need, some of the trucks are falling apart and it costs more to fix them than it would to actually buy a vehicle," Miner said.

The city operations department is asking for council to approve the purchase of five new salt and snow plow trucks at the estimated cost of $1,015,076.

Additional equipment including mowers, a tractor and a self-propelled airless striper bring the overall total for proposed spending to $1,593,074.

The city has plows on its fleet that date back to 1993. Among the five 29-year-old trucks, most have rust and rusted out floor beds. Right now, one of the city's plows is about to undergo almost $12,000 in repairs.

The new trucks would have a 20 year shelf life, with plans to upgrade aging ones sooner.

"They're stainless steel bodies," Frank Tempesta said, operations superintendent. "We think they'll give us a lot better service. We're going with more high tech, everything is automatic transmission."

The city's law director says they can use American Rescue Funds to cover the bill.

"What's nice is that there is enough latitude built into the guidelines at the federal level that enables cities the flexibility they need to be able to make purchases, like Warren's for example for the snow plows, to address needs that otherwise wouldn't have a revenue source," Enzo Cantalamessa said.

Cantalamessa says the treasury guidelines don't specifically limit which items can or cannot be purchased. It's his interpretation that the purchase of the plows would fall within the spending guidelines.

He says the law department is working carefully with the administration, city council and federal representatives to ensure

"Of course everyone has a wish list and a list of needs, but we're making sure that whenever we commit to which items are going to be purchased, they fall correctly into the allowable guidelines," Cantalamessa said.

Miner and Councilwoman Cheryl Saffold openly supported the proposal during a meeting with the operations department administration on Tuesday.

An official vote on the proposal will take place at their next regular meeting.

Tempesta says timing is crucial as prices on plow trucks have gone up over the past two years. He expects the truck orders will take anywhere from 15 to 17 months to fill due to the supply chain wait times. He says manpower also remains a problem.

He'd like to hire more drivers with CDL permits, but it's tough to retain workers. The city has 20 drivers on staff with another seven employees from other departments that can assist during winter storms.