The County of Stettler council has approved a variety of capital expenditures during their Mar. 9 meeting.
First up, council approved the purchase of 125 panels of temporary construction safety fencing.
The fencing is something that Public Works director Rick Green says has “come up in conversation a bunch of times.”
“We’ve been talking about this for a few years,” said Green.
“We did put it in the budget for this year.”
Coun. Les Stulberg motioned that administration proceed with staff recommendation, which was the purchase of 125 panels of heavy duty safety fencing at a cost of just over $19,000.
The heavy duty panels cost about $2,000 more than the standard panels of the same size, a cost that Stulberg felt was “worth it” with the anticipated increased durability and longevity of the panels.
Second on the list of capital purchases was a wheel loader.
Public Works budgeted $250,000 for the expense in 2022 and the administration recommendation fell within that amount.
Administration recommended the purchase of a Case 1021 wheel loader for a cost of around $243,000, however when presenting the request for council decision (RCD) Green noted that the same supplier also had a 2016 John Deer 744KII for sale at a cost of $265,000.
The reason Green noted this is the previous wheel loader purchased by the county was the same model, albeit a year older, and would provide better “operator continuity” with crews easier able to switch between machines.
Coun. Ernie Gendre ultimately put forward the motion authorizing the purchase of the 2016 John Deere from Chinook Equipment in Taber, with the extra cost to come from reserves.
The motion was carried with Coun. Justin Stevens voting against the motion.
A third purchase authorized by council was the purchase of a compact track-loader.
For this purchase, the county received eight different tenders from local and more regional businesses ranging in cost from $61,000 for a 2020 Case TR270 with 1600 hours on it to just under $118,000 for a 2021 John Deere 333G with 400 hours on it.
Administration provided council two recommendations to pick from for this RCD.
Option one was to purchase a 2022 Kubota SVL65 with a 68” standard bucket at $74,500, which is is $4,500 over budget.
The second option was to purchase a 2020 Case TR310 with 262 hours on it, equipped with a 78” bucket, for $67,100, which was just under $3,000 under the $70,000 allocated for the purchase.
“I like the advantage of (buying) brand new and local,” said Stulberg, before motioning that the county purchase the new machine.
The motion was carried with Coun. Paul McKay voting against the motion.
A final piece of new machinery approved for purchase by council was a new loader-backhoe.
For this new piece of equipment, budgeted at$110,000 plus GST in 2022, four tenders were received by administration.
Administration’s recommendation for the purchase was a 2018 Case 580 Super for $105,000 plus the purchase of a ditch cleaning bucket at a cost of around $3,500.
Other tenders that came in ranged in between $79,000 and $154,000. The lower priced machines were smaller than what met the county’s needs.
Coun. McKay motioned to purchase the 2018 Case, which was carried.