Darien Getting Electric Truck; Official Has 'Real Problem'

DARIEN, IL – Darien aldermen took the first step this week toward buying an electric dump truck, though a couple of aldermen expressed reservations about electric vehicles in general.

The City Council voted to accept a nearly $300,000 grant from the state, which is made possible through Volkswagen's settlement for air pollution violations. The city must chip in $150,000, for a total cost of nearly $450,000.

Alderman Eric Gustafson said the city should wait for some nearby entity to try out electric dump trucks first.

"Let them make the mistakes, and we learn from their mistakes and not ours," Gustafson said. "I have a real problem with electric anything."

Alderman Ted Schauer said that everybody knows that he wasn't the biggest supporter of electric vehicles – "and that's trying to be politically correct."

But he said the city should assess whether the truck will work for its operation.

"This is a great test for us," he said. "I think it's a great opportunity."

Alderman Gerry Leganski said he would have opposed such a purchase before he retired a couple of years ago. His company, he said, had issues with electric semi-trucks at the time, but those have since been fixed.

He said he would favor a purchase if the dump truck could also be used for snowplowing.

However, Dan Gombac, the city's top public works official, said he did not want to make any promises about the truck's effectiveness in snowstorms. He said the city needed to determine the recharge cycles.

He said the truck could be used for smaller snowfalls, but whether it could handle longer snowstorms was up in the air.

"It will be fuel savings for sure," Gombac said.

The council voted unanimously for the truck, with Gustafson abstaining. Gustafson did not explain his abstention during the meeting.

"There was open information that Dan did not yet have," Gombac said in an email to Patch on Thursday. "He will be evaluating the truck in the future to verify it will be a viable truck for the city."