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Burnet bolsters electric department fleet with new bucket truck

A Pedernales Electric Cooperative lineman works on electrical repairs in an Altec bucket truck similar to the one that Burnet will soon acquire. Courtesy photo

The city of Burnet recently moved to bolster its electric department’s capabilities through the purchase of a new bucket truck that will assist in elevated electrical work.

The truck, approved for purchase by the City Council during a Tuesday, July 14, meeting, was given a budget not to exceed $300,000. Funds for the vehicle will be pulled from the city’s electric department reserve account.

The hydraulic-assisted workhorse will replace one of the city’s aging trucks that is over a decade old, rounding out a fleet of four vehicles that work to repair things like damaged electric lines and poles throughout Burnet.

“It’s replacing a truck that’s been in our fleet since 2012,” Assistant Public Works Director-Electric Andrew Scott told councilors at the meeting. “My goal (with the new truck) is to continue working like we have been. In the past 23 working days, we’ve replaced 21 poles.”

Scott stressed the time-sensitive manner of the purchase, noting that the electric department has been undergoing a significant rehab of several dilapidated pieces of equipment across the city.

The equipment was marked as having “deficiencies” during an electric system visual inspection completed earlier in the year, sparking a likely multi-year effort to replace the equipment that could cost a total of over $900,000 once completed.

So long as the purchase proceeds without interruption, the acquired truck is slated to be a 2026 Altec TA60 4×2 with a telescopic bucket system that can be extended up to 60 feet.

caden@thepicayune.com

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