Village of Elnora council wants to negotiate on equipment offers

Elnora village council instructed its staff to negotiate with a business after equipment prices were presented at the April 9 regular meeting of council.

Village Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sharon Wesgate presented councillors with the results of staff investigation into pricing for two pieces of equipment the Public Works department will use: a pick-up sweeper and a wood chipper.

Included in the agenda package were offers from two vendors for both pieces of equipment; the offers were made through email, not a closed tender process. The vendors were listed as Trochu Motors and Wildcat Equipment.

For the pick-up sweeper, which is a skid-steer attachment that sweeps debris, Trochu Motors offered an HLA 84 inch hydraulic pick-up broom for $9,100 plus tax while Wildcat Equipment offered a Martach 84 inch pick-up sweeper for $6,200 plus tax.

Looking at the wood chipper, Wildcat Equipment offered a Wallenstein BXH42 wood chipper for $6,800 plus tax while Trochu Motors offered the same make and model for $6,700 plus tax.

In her report Wesgate noted these items could be paid for with the $18,370 recently generated by the sale of a surplus village garbage truck.

Mayor Jul Bissell stated he felt the wood chipper was a good investment that will save money for the village for years to come.

As discussion progressed, councillors agreed they’d prefer to buy both pieces of equipment from the same vendor to save time and effort.

Councillors agreed in discussion to purchasing the lower-priced pick-up sweeper from Wildcat Equipment.

However, councillors stated they’d prefer to also buy the wood chipper from Wildcat Equipment despite Trochu Motors’ offer being somewhat lower.

Councillors passed a resolution to buy both pieces of equipment from Wildcat Equipment if Wildcat was willing to sell them the wood chipper for the Trochu Motor's price.

Stu Salkeld, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, East Central Alberta Review