Public Works Director Richard Parnell today asked council for a third mechanic and to consider allowing the cemetery to sell headstones. Council asked him about street sweeper policies.

Parnell told council during its budget work session the department lost a mechanic last year.

The city has 188 vehicles and equipment it must work on. “To maintain our vehicles we need 2.58 mechanics,” Parnell said.

One of the mechanics, who is a skilled technician, has 408 hours assigned to other duties besides his mechanic duties. “He’s got a lot of charged out time for other things.”

Parnell said the mechanic does 100 percent of the police cars and repair and maintenance on those vehicles has increased. He is also called on for other duties because of his skills.

Parnell said a third mechanic could be hired for about $45,000. “When you go through your cuts, remember it’s a real need.”

The public works director also asked council to consider allowing the cemetery to sell headstones. “We’re not increasing any costs,” he said. “It would be the same price as funeral homes charge and from the same distributor.”

Parnell said he believes it would be a positive move because once or twice a year headstones not fitting the city’s size requirements are shipped. “We had no control over size,” he said, adding, “We become the bad guys. If we had control I think this will eliminate the problems.”

Meanwhile, council asked Parnell about what streets the street sweeper is used on. He said 17.4 miles of state roads. “Basically, we do every state road.”

The roads the city does is based on traffic volume.

“Is there more of a problem with state roads than city streets?” Councilman Greg Lawson asked.

Parnell said the agreement to do state roads in the city was based on conversations with the state Department of Transportation, in which the department was supposed to paint lines on Roanoke Avenue.

The problem, Parnell said, is there are limited funds to clean all streets. “We can’t add a lot to that or we’re increasing the budget. The problem is if we go and clean city streets all the major corridors look junky ... Those are the roads most people are coming through our town.”

Council member Ernest Bobbitt said he had a problem with sweeping state roads and not city roads.

Lawson said Parnell should decide the way streets get cleaned.

For the city to sweep all streets, Parnell said, would require another sweeper and another person to operate the equipment, funds he said he doesn’t have right now.

It costs about $80 an hour to run the sweeper. “We have about 88 miles of street, about 60 miles with curb and gutter. If we eliminate state roads one sweeper could do city streets. I need to know. If you say it’s my discretion, my discretion would be give me more money and another person.”