Lakewood, Colorado
Keywords: Public Works, Failed Contract
Winter Street Sweeping
Prior to 1997, the City of Lakewood, Colorado used private sweeping contractors to supplement city sweeping forces in the winter months. The additional sweeping effort in the winter was needed to remove sanding material from the roadways in a more expeditious manner, in order to address PM-10 air quality concerns and overall city aesthetics.
In 1997 the decision was made to eliminate the contracted winter sweeping services and use the funds budgeted to lease three additional sweepers and hire four seasonal employees to supplement city employees in the winter months. This decision was made due to quality and reliability problems with private sweeping contractors.
Service quality has improved considerably since bringing the service back in-house. The quality and reliability problems have been solved, and there has also been an increase in sweeping quantity of approximately 25 percent.
Case based on interviews with Jim Zelinski, Deputy City Manager, and Chris Jacobsen, Maintenance Operations Manager, July 1, 1999.