After 23 years, Thousand Oaks city buses will benefit from a new wash system. And a new heavy-duty platform lift will be used to check their brakes.

The new bus wash is expected to cost about $250,000. It will comply with the city's water conservation ordinance by recycling water, as carwashes in Thousand Oaks are required to do.

According to a city staff report, the old lift has deteriorated and is in need of major repairs. The cost to keep it working is $12,000 annually.

The current vehicle lift, installed in 1993 when city buses were smaller than they are now, has a 50,000-pound capacity. With the larger buses, the lift poses safety concerns, noted Mark Watkins, public works director.

"Buses must be backed onto the lift where, with only inches of clearance, the hydraulic posts line up exactly with the wheels of the bus, leaving no room for removal of the wheels to perform related routine or emergency maintenance work," Watkins wrote in a report to City Manager Scott Mitnick.

The new lift is a heavy-duty platform, parallelogram type with a movable hydraulic jack. Its estimated cost is $180,000.

The city has approved using a $120,000 federal grant for the equipment. The rest of the money comes from capital improvement program money in the city's budget.

On July 14, the City Council unanimously approved authorizing city staff to advertise and get bids for the purchases.

—Nancy Needham