Riverdale Park Gets Full Custody of Broken Street Sweeper

Congratulations, residents of Riverdale Park: you are now the sole owners of one broken street sweeper. 

That's because the Hyattsville City Council Monday night unanimously approved a measure relinquishing its share of the Tymco 435 Sweeper, which the two cities have jointly owned and operated since 2007. 

Originally purchased with grant money, the machine has been in the repair shop since October 2011 as a result of a rusted hopper which leaked dust and sapped the performance of the vacuum.

The total cost to repair the street sweeper comes in at roughly $34,000, split between Riverdale Park and Hyattsville. City officials balked at the high cost of the repair, arguing that the street sweeper was never used much. 

Hyattsville resident and vocal city activist D. Marshall asked why the city wasn't getting anything in return. 

Mayor Marc Tartaro said that it's not worth it to sell, noting that the city essentially got the machine for free.  

In a letter to Tartaro, Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer said that his town still wanted to operate the street sweeper. 

"As you know, we have been without this unit for almost a year, and we are eager to resume street sweeping as soon as possible," wrote Archer.