Huntsville will replace a 20-year-old fire truck, but for $42,000 more than expected.
Town council had originally budgeted $650,000 for the purchase of a 2,500 gallon pumper-tanker truck for the Port Sydney Fire Station, upping that to $692,000 at its meeting on Monday.
Huntsville Lake of Bays Fire Chief Gary Monahan told council it was the lower of two acceptable quotes, with the other costing roughly $90,000 more with an almost two-year delivery time. The selected option would see the truck delivered next March, just before the truck turns 20.
According to Monahan, the current truck is from 2004 and nearing the end of its service life, after which insurance premiums to cover it would likely go up.
“That’s when you start to see the increase in insurance costs, so if your apparatus [is] older than 20 years, that’s when you start to get into trouble,” said Monahan. “So we are switching this one out at the right time.”
Council unanimously approved the proposal, with the extra funds coming out of Fire Capital Reserves.
