WESTLOCK – Westlock County appears to have passed on purchasing a new one-ton truck, although details of the discussion, which councillors voted ‘for’ or ‘against’, as well as the options presented to them remain confidential.
Citing Section 16 (1) (c) (i) of Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, administration and councillors went behind closed doors at their Nov. 30 meeting to discuss 2021 Capital Vehicle Replacement Transfer Site Unit #121 — councillors previously discussed the purchase publicly at their Nov. 9 regular meeting and had balked at a $16,000 increase between what they were initially quoted on a 2021 model versus a 2022 edition.
In a follow-up interview Dec. 3, CAO Kay Spiess referred questions on the item to reeve Christine Wiese, who said council voted to accept option ‘F’ — an e-mail from Spiess later that day confirmed that “no purchase was made.”
While Wiese agreed that the decision was “extremely vague” due to FOIP concerns and Spiess said she “appreciate(d) the concern” when pressed for more details, especially considering the fact the initial discussion was in public, both would not offer any more specifics.
Section 16 of FOIP covers “disclosure harmful to business interests of a third party” while the specific section cited by the county details: “(c) the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to (i) harm significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the negotiating position of the third party.”
“Administration gave us lots of suggestions on how we could proceed with it and out of it council chose what we thought was the best thing to go forward with,” said Wiese.
Purchase background
Following close to 30 minutes of discussion at their Nov. 9 regular meeting, councillors asked administration to gather three additional quotes for a replacement one-ton truck for the waste management department and get legal advice on an unfulfilled tender for a 2021 one-ton truck.
Agricultural and environmental services manager Jacolyn Tiggert’s request for decision notes that during deliberations for the 2021 capital budget, her department was provided with $60,000 to replace unit #121 which tows the recycle trailers to each county transfer site — the current unit “is in poor mechanical condition and waste management requires a vehicle on a daily basis to support the service delivery.”
A replacement 2021 one-ton truck was tendered out and an approved quote from an unnamed dealership was awarded for $47,963, plus GST. Tiggert’s briefing went on to note that earlier in the fall a one-ton truck did arrive at the dealership, however it was a 2022 model that cost $63,954.00, plus GST and was not eligible for any 2022 fleet-concession discounts.
Tiggert said they asked the dealership to check other lots but “there just aren’t any (2021) one-ton models to be found.” Her RFD also notes that administration will use the 3/4 ton currently in the fleet, however that will leave the department short, which may affect other programs and the 3/4 ton may be under capacity to handle the load.
Ultimately, administration recommended the purchase with Tiggert saying at the time: “We feel that waiting we may not even get a 2022 model and there’s no 2021 models to be had. And with the prices that are inflating like crazy right now we feel that waiting may not be in the best interests of the county.”
While councillors were aware of truck shortages across North America due to global supply chain issues, the huge price difference appeared to be one of the stumbling blocks. As well, councillors also questioned whether they had any legal grounds to argue for a discount due to the fact the municipality had a signed tender.
“I think with a tender there is some legal obligation. But I’m not a lawyer,” said deputy reeve Ray Marquette at the Nov. 9 meeting. “A tender says that they will give you a vehicle (at an agreed price). If not, they might have to eat some of the price. I believe there is some legal hold in a tender.”
“Tendered to me is a formal agreement. The mistake is on their end. I get that it is a tough situation to be in, but we do need to be responsible with the money as well,” Wiese said at the same meeting.
