City of Powell River councillors have voted to sell the newly acquired Powell River Fire Rescue pumper truck.
At the December 7 city council meeting, councillors heard from fire chief Martin Drakely, who said he wanted to assure council that the fire department’s leadership team has met and discussed the proposed sale.
“We all concur there will be no change to the service level in the community,” said Drakely, adding that a report to council identified savings to the community.
He said the fire department will maintain its fire underwriters rating and that the department will continue to meet requirements of the underwriters.
Drakely said city staff have discussed streamlining the parameters of the fleet replacement process and increasing its longevity, while also maintaining the fire underwriters rating.
According to a report to council, fire rescue staff have concluded that its existing pumper trucks have sufficient capacity to meet operational requirements for the next six years.
Councillor Trina Isakson said this was the first time the community would have received the information regarding the potential sale of an asset. She said she was prepared to make a motion to postpone the decision for two weeks so the community has an opportunity to react.
Councillor Rob Southcott asked if there was any downside to delaying the decision for two weeks.
Chief financial officer Mallory Denniston said the pumper truck is being stored with the supplier the city purchased it from. She said that a promise had been made to report by December 8 on the direction because the supplier was not looking to store the vehicle past that day. She said in case of postponement, there would be a cost to transport the truck to the west coast.
Councillor Jim Palm moved that staff be directed to sell the pumper truck using the most profitable method feasible, with net proceeds transferred to the vehicle and equipment reserve. The motion also stipulated that staff research and report to council on the best practices for fire service vehicles and equipment policies.
Councillor Cindy Elliott asked if moving the truck would decrease its value.
Denniston said her understanding was that it would not impact the value and the warranty would be in place.
Drakely said the city had taken possession of the vehicle but it was just being stored.
“There is no impact from a financial perspective,” said Drakely.
Chief administrative officer Lisa Bhopalsingh said if the city needs to store the truck longer in another location, a former colleague of hers, who has a big influence with the Vancouver fire department, has offered to store the truck.
Mayor Ron Woznow said he supported the motion and appreciated the extensive work staff had completed. Councillor Earl Almeida said a concern the community would have is selling an asset below its value.
“Without getting into the specific details of the numbers, chief, can you confirm for us that with the timeline of the purchase that we made back in 2022, and the economies of scale over the last year and a half, that the expectation is we are going to come out ahead on this deal?” asked Almeida.
Drakely said that was correct.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the motion to sell the pumper truck.
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