A request to purchase a truck by town administration was turned down by council.
The request was made March 28 during council’s regular meeting where Dave McPhee, director of operations and property services, stated that the proposed cost came in under budget.
The proposal was to buy a new gravel truck and salt/sand spreader, valued at just over $190,000, to replace the town’s aging 1994 GMC Kodiak tandem gravel truck. Town operations budgeted for $200,000 with the money to come out of the Municipal Sustainability Initiative funds.
One of the reasons for the replacement was that the current truck’s 2015 commercial vehicle inspection showed a need to replace the brakes, front end suspension, steering and roll tarp. Because of that the decision was made to put the truck into minimal service.
Mayor Rick Bonnett was reluctant to make the replacement. He asked what the costs are to fix the issues, to which McPhee believes about $12,000 to $14,000 subject to the next inspection.
Other concerns from Bonnett included the truck’s hours and mileage. “I’d like to know how many hours of service and kilometres are on this vehicle,” said Bonnett.
McPhee did not have that information available but added with this new truck there is a seven year service agreement minimizing future costs to the town. He did add that typically a truck is replaced after 20 years or 200,000 kilometres, whichever comes first.
The truck is now 23 years into service.
Coun. Carla Prediger made a motion to repair the current truck and bring back the request for the 2018 budget, which passed, with councillors Loanna Gulka and Marc Yaworski voting against it.
Prediger did ask that administration bring back the town’s purchasing policy and spending limits for review at a future date.