The fire department received the green light to replace its problematic ladder truck.
On Monday, council approved the purchase of a new ladder truck by the St. Albert Fire Department at the cost of $1.47 million.
The fire department had originally approached council in December about replacing the lemon they bought in 2009. After agreeing to the request, council postponed the decision to purchase in May, asking staff to return with more information on leasing options and on the possibility of purchasing a used truck.
The ladder truck is needed to fight fires in buildings higher than two storeys or with a footprint of 25,000 square feet or more, of which St. Albert has at least 152 — from schools to condos to the hospital.
A cost benefit analysis presented to council on Monday showed that the purchase of a used ladder truck would end up costing the city more than double the price of a new unit over a 15-year lifecycle.
In medium-sized cities like St. Albert, trucks between 16 and 20 years old can only be used as secondary units, meaning every five years the city would have to purchase a new previously-owned unit.
Leasing was also not found to be the favourable option, estimated at a cost of $150,000 over 15 years.
The report also showed that most medium-sized cities own two aerial trucks. Grande Prairie, which counts almost half the population of St. Albert, has had two ladder trucks since 2000.
The current unit was purchased new for $1.4 million in 2009. Since being put into operation in March 2010, it has spent much of its time in the shop – receiving $200,000 in warranty repairs, plus another $160,000-worth of repairs paid for by the city’s public works department budget.
A report to council in December indicated that from July 2012 to October 2014, the unit had been out of service 70 per cent of the time. In the 12 months leading up to the report, it was in the shop 95 per cent of the time.
Most recently, the unit was in the shop to repair a leaky radiator and was only put back into service on July 10 – the day it was called in to support the Morinville Fire Department in combating a condo complex fire.
Councillor Cathy Heron took this as a sign of the truck’s unreliability, prompting her to put forward the motion.
“St. Albert firefighters have been without this important equipment for more than a year. Each day they go to work risking their lives to keep us safe. The least we can do is give them the basic equipment that they need,” said Heron.
Councillors Sheena Hughes and Cam MacKay expressed their disappointment that the option of refurbishment was not explored in more detail.
Hughes also asked why the fire department isn’t considering keeping the current unit as a back up given most medium sized citys have a secondary unit.
Richards said the fire department had considered it, but that public works felt the unit was more of a burden than an asset. He also told council that the city had already received a decent verbal offer for the unit.
The purchase of a second aerial unit is earmarked in the city’s 10-year capital plan.
