(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Financial accountability

R.M. pays over $500K for new dozer

Feb 14, 2020 | 2:16 PM

After a tendering process, R.M. councillors chose a new dozer based on other factors besides price.

The R.M. signed a purchase agreement for a 2020 D6 CAT Dozer, for the price of $538,400 plus tax from Finning. The next closest bid was Brandt Tractor at $431,500, and the lowest offer came from Redhead Equipment at $410,000.

Eric Schmalz explained several factors are considered when purchasing equipment including service costs, resale costs, and the cost of ownership which in this case is projected to be a 20-year period.

“Obviously in these instances when we extrapolate all the data and take the entirety of the data into consideration, it does not necessarily mean we pick the machine based solely on purchase price,” Schmalz said.

“It was not the cheapest purchase price but it was deemed to be the most cost effective when the data was extrapolated.”

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The rural municipality has recently started the process of revising its procurement process. Schmalz said they want the process to be more scientific.

“We want to make sure we are doing our due diligence with the public coffer,” he said.

A photo of a dozer like the one the R.M. is buying. (submitted photo)

Administrator Roxanne Roy said several factors contributed to the purchase agreement including product reputation, product history, equipment capabilities, and parts availability.

Div. 2 Councillor Tyler Hazelwood told paNOW the R.M. went thorough the tendering process and conducted a Canada-wide request for proposals (RFP). He said they found the cost of the used machines was close to cost of buying new. He added the purchased dozer also offers an option to monitor the pitch of the blade, thereby eliminating the need to have a road grader on site and saving costs in the long run.

At Thursday’s monthly R.M. meeting, the city of Prince Albert’s fleet manager said the biggest error made when new equipment is purchased, is council’s fail to consider the piece’s “life span”. Robert Snowdon said choosing based on low price does not always benefit.

“Quite often you got close to a $100,000 more if you had a CAT and sold it at the same time, so you really lost $70,000 over the whole purchasing process,” he said.

Robert Snowdon at Thursday’s R.M. of Prince Albert meeting. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

Snowdon also encouraged councillors to keep good records of service costs, and not to rush the tendering process which could provide a lot of information.

“If you do have the data, it counts,” he said.

Representatives from the R.M.’s of Buckland and Duck Lake also attended last night’s meeting.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell