INNISFAIL – The town is investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a new “workhorse” for its day-to-day public works operations in both winter and summer.
At its regular meeting on Feb. 26, town council approved the purchase of a 2018 John Deere grader at a cost of at least $344,500. That figure has since been adjusted to about $390,000.
Rod Fraser, the town’s director of operations, said the soon-to-be retired grader, the only one the town had in service, is at the end of its lifespan with repairs and maintenance over the past five years costing about $100,000.
“It has to perform for the entire community. It is 12 years old and time to get a new one,” said Fraser. “That is our workhorse that gives us the ability to do snow removal, and grading laneways, alleys and gravel roads in the summertime. It is a workhouse and probably one of our go-to pieces of equipment.”
Council was told the town received two bids for its purchase of a new grader with both coming in well under the $450,000 budget that was set. However, the John Deere machine was the only one that fully met desired specifications.
“The John Deere grader demo performed well and the unit met all the specifications requested, plus it has more horsepower and had a better warranty,” said the report to council, which added the unit comes with a remote monitoring system and is GPS ready. “Overall the John Deere unit is the better machine and offers the most value to the town over the long term.”
Fraser said the town is not planning on buying any other big ticket public works equipment in 2018 but did note there was a purchase of a mobile generator earlier this year at a cost of about $20,000.
