The City of New Haven, Ind., has approved the purchase of more than $141,000 worth of equipment — a crane truck and a diesel generator — for the City’s utility department, according to city council minutes recently released from the Feb. 11 meeting.

The crane truck — a lease-to-purchase option in the amount of $98,254 -- will be a multi-purpose truck and come equipped with a generator, air compressor, and a welder, according to Utility Superintendent Dave Jones.

The truck will be mainly utilized to pull lift station pumps, which he said are pulled about 25 times a year. In the past, the utility department called on a wrecker service to handle these jobs, which costs anywhere from $75-$500 depending on the size of the pump and size of equipment the company sends to perform each service.

The crane will be available 24 hours and seven days a week, and has an expected lifecycle of approximately 20 years.

In addition to the crane truck, the council also approved the purchase of a $43,039 80kw built-in diesel generator, which will be located at the 2435 Summit Street facility. The existing unit is a temporary generator that will only run part of the building, Jones explained to council members. With the new generator, he said utility workers will be able to continue working in the building during a power failure or natural disaster, such as tornado or major ice storm. Jones said power outages have been occurring more often than in previous years.