Prosperity Town Council debated over a possibility of a new sanitation truck for their utility department.

That decision has not been finalized.

The council deliberated over the purchase of a new truck or using outsourcing to help pick up trash in the town.

The subject was approached because of the increasing wear and tear on the truck.

In fact, just this past Fourth of July holiday, the sanitation truck was not working properly so utility workers came out on their day off to go around town picking up trash.

While the workers for commended for their work ethic by council as well as by a local resident, the issue remains that the problem must be addressed.

Councilman Chad Hawkins said he has tried to contact at least a couple of people regarding companies to come to Prosperity and pick up trash as opposed to buying a new truck.

Hawkins says that he keeps making phone calls but there is no positive feedback on people wanting to come to Prosperity.

Prosperity Town Administrator Karen Livingston says that she has received a quote on a trash truck but there is still more information needed.

The town attorney, Henry Bufkin, brought up a couple of questions to consider: How old is the truck and will it be cost effective to buy another truck.

The current trash truck that Prosperity has now was purchased from Prosperity as a temporary fix, according to Prosperity Utility Director Ed West.

“There are so many things working against us with the high maintenance vehicle,” says West, who says that it is expensive to maintain.

West adds that there were close to $50,000 in repairs last year and more than 10,000 hours on the truck now and about 260,000 miles.

Livingston and West are going to do some more research on the repairs, cost effectiveness and DHEC mandates.

The council will discuss this decision at a special called meeting because they did not want to wait until the next regularly scheduled town council meeting in August. The special meeting date has not been announced yet.

In other utility news, West informed the council of a new S.C. law; the Underground Facility Damage Prevention Act was signed by Gov. Nikki Haley. The law operates under S.C. 811 which requires people to call before they dig where buried facilities may be found.

This used to be a voluntary thing but has become a mandate and West says that there are fees that will come with this.

The law won’t affect Prosperity for another year, according to West and there are still plenty of questions to be answered and worked out. Prosperity will also have to consider this for next year’s budget as well because of the fees.

For more information about the S.C. 811 law, visit www.sc1pups.org.