Mt. Pleasant Council approves purchase of $400K vacuum truck and raises city cemetery fees

MT. PLEASANT—The Mt. Pleasant City Council approved the purchase of a $399,000 vacuum truck and voted to raise fees at the city cemetery during its council meeting March 11.The vacuum truck is used for hydro-excavation, cleaning sewer pipes and manholes, and can be used in the event of a water line break.

“We’ve been discussing replacing this truck for quite a while,” Colter Allen, Mt. Pleasant public works director said to the council. Allen said the previous vacuum truck needed repairs costing approximately $38,000, but the truck itself, if repaired, would only be worth about $50,000.

The old truck, a 2001 model, was purchased by the city in 2011 and has 8,542 hours on it, Allen said. The new vacuum truck is a used truck built in 2022.

“If the council wanted to, we could afford [the 2022 truck] now,” Dave Oxman, city finance director said. Oxman said a combination of the sewer fund, water fund, irrigation fund and portions of the city’s general fund could finance the purchase.

“It’s one of our most expensive pieces of equipment…and the most used,” Allen said later in the meeting.

“Personally, I think we ought to go with this,” Councilman Paul Madsen said. “It’s 3 years old, still got 10 or 15 years.”

“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” Councilman Cade Beck said about the cost.

After discussion, the council voted 4-1 to purchase the truck with the condition that a base loan rate be set if other cities in Sanpete needed to lease the truck.

The “no” vote came from Councilman Lynn Beesley. Beesley said the cost was too high and said Mt. Pleasant should at least explore other options, such as sharing the purchase cost with nearby cities.

The council also voted unanimously to raise fees at the city cemetery. Fees were last raised in 2011, city officials said. The resident fee for purchase of a grave space increased to $400, up from $200. The non-resident fee is now $800, up from $600.

A full list of all cemetery fees is available on the Utah Public Notice website. Go to http://www.utah.gov/pmn. Scroll to the bottom of the page, select the option for “municipality” and click Mt. Pleasant. The rates are posted as part of the May 25, 2025 regular city council agenda.