Standard-Examiner correspondent?

BOUNTIFUL — City officials have upheld a decision to spend an additional $43,000 to buy a new compactor for the Bountiful City Landfill, despite a lower bid for the equipment.?The city council voted 5-0 on Tuesday to stay with a decision made in July to purchase a new compactor for $510,046 from Aljon Manufacturing. ?A local company, Rasmussen Equipment Company of Salt Lake, had submitted a bid of $467,000 for a new Bomag trash compactor and appealed the decision to the city council.?Rasmussen officials insisted some of the information shared about the Bomag compactor quote was inaccurate and sought to set the record straight.?”The cheapest price is the cheapest piece of equipment is not always the case,” said Don Harrison, of Rasmussen.?He disputed some technical arguments made by Gary Blowers, superintendent for the landfill, when Blowers recommended the council approve the Aljon compactor.?Blowers suggested he carefully reviewed the bids for the compactor before recommending the Aljon. He cited the experience of three landfill operators in doing so. ?He also said the cost savings in fuel alone between the Aljon and the Bomag over the projected 10-year life span of the equipment would be $86,000.?Mayor Joe Johnson said city officials are not experts in technical equipment and need to rely on staff for recommendations.?”If people we have are using the equipment and they like it, and you bring it to us as a recommendation, I consider it pretty much on my list to judge,” he said.?City Manager Tom Hardy said it is the first new compactor the city has purchased in 25 years. ?”When you’re spending a half-million dollars for a piece of equipment, you don’t do it lightly.”