The Haines Borough is buying a used $42,000 forklift to add to its heavy machinery fleet.
Though the borough hasn’t previously owned an extended boom forklift in the past, public facilities director Carlos Jimenez said several departments would be using the piece of equipment on a regular basis for working at heights and handling material.
“We’ve rented a forklift I couldn’t tell you how many times. Countless times,” Jimenez said. “Knowing we have one (on hand), we’ll use it almost daily.”
The borough previously rented forklifts at $350 per day.
The public facilities, water, sewer and public works departments will use the forklift to hang Christmas lights and banners, fix roofing and paint. “We have an OSHA-approved man basket that attaches to the machine and allows a person to safely work while being safely harnessed,” Jimenez said.
The Ingersol Rand forklift was used by Pacific Pile and Marine on the Port Chilkoot Dock and Letnikof Cove harbor improvements. Buying the forklift while it is here cuts out shipping costs, Jimenez said.
“We also looked in Seattle and Alaska for comparable machines and deemed this to be the best bang for the buck,” he said.
The fiscal year 2015 budget includes $45,000 in the capital improvement projects fund for an extended boom forklift.
Borough employees operated the forklift prior to purchase and found it was in good working condition. It has logged 4,800 hours of operation.
The borough also recently purchased a $12,500 construction trailer from Pacific Pile and Marine