Council sticks with Lux for snow removal

by Nathan Arneal
Published 11/26/25

At its third meeting discussing the issue, the North Bend City Council voted at the Nov. 18 meeting to employ Lux Sand and Gravel for snow removal this season.

Lux has handled North Bend’s snow removal for multiple decades. This year, for the first time in recent memory, the city had another company submit a bid for the job, C-R Menn.

At the Nov. 4 council meeting a motion to hire Lux was defeated 3-2, with mayor Rod Scott breaking the tie. A motion to hire C-R Menn died for lack of a second.

C-R Menn’s bid was for $95 to $125 an hour depending on the equipment. The rate for a grader and payloader was $125 while a dump truck was $95 an hour.

Lux’s bid was $195 an hour for most equipment and $185 for a dump truck.

As an example, the city was billed for a total of 37.2 hours over four dates for snow removal in February 2025.

At the request of councilman Ken Streff – who said at the previous meeting he didn’t want to vote for anyone without a contract in place – city clerk Theresa Busse asked the city of Fremont for its snow removal practices. Busse reported back that Fremont does not use a contract. It uses six contractors for $125 an hour.

At the Nov. 18 meeting, councilman Waylon Fischer made a motion to accept the C-R Menn bid. Like the previous meeting, the motion died for lack of a second.

Councilman Alex Legge made a motion to award the bid to Lux Sand and Gravel, which was seconded by Chuck Krenzer.

Fischer voted against it. Streff, who voted against the Lux bid at the previous meeting, voted in favor of it this time.

Streff said he had conversations with several constituents since the previous meeting who were in favor of staying with Lux.

“I know it’s a little more, but in terms of efficiency, we know he can get it done quickly,” Streff said. “He can be out on the roads quick... We made decisions before in the council where the best bid wasn’t always the cheapest.”

Krenzer and Legge voted in favor and the Lux Sand and Gravel bid was accepted with a 3-1 vote.

Legge said he liked the idea of keeping the service local and not depending on people out of town getting into North Bend during a snowstorm.

“I’m comfortable with Dean (Lux),” Legge said. “He’s always done a good job.”

Mayor Rod Scott said the council should have taken the less expensive alternative, especially since there was such a disparity in the bids.

“I can deal with $20 an hour difference,” he said, “but I can’t deal with $70.”

Scott said he wasn’t concerned with C-R Menn getting here from out of town because they said they would keep equipment in North Bend and have employees that live nearby.

Read the full story in the print or e-edition.

<<Back to the front page