ATHABASCA — Residents may see new Town of Athabasca equipment on the road after councillors approved the purchase of a reserve fire truck and a new snowplow and sanding truck.
During the Sept. 19 meeting, councillors unanimously approved two motions directing administration to purchase two new trucks to the tune of $488,000. Up to $60,000 was allocated for a used reserve fire truck, and the other $428,000 was designated for the snowplow and sanding truck.
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Dalley said in an Oct. 4 interview both trucks were purchased to replace equipment nearing the end of life for the town’s purposes.
Graeme Douglas, public works superintendent echoed Dalley’s statement, and said the reliability of a new truck “lets me sleep a little easier at night.”
“The older (snowplows) get, the more little things that go wrong with them. They have a lot of electrical components that don’t like salt and calcium,” said Douglas. “It’s a very hard way of life for those trucks,” he added.
Douglas said the new snowplow is expected to last the department between 12 and 14 years.
Funds for the trucks came out of the regular capital budget, and the total cost for both trucks was covered by money rolled over from the 2022 and 2023 Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant.
MSI provides annual capital to Alberta municipalities for a variety of capital projects and operating expenses. The program has distributed over $15 billion since its launch in 2007, and will be replaced by the Local Government Fiscal Framework in 2024.
