Council approves contract for fire truck

City of Powell River council has approved the purchase of a new truck for Powell River’s fire department.

The department issued a request for proposals (RFP) in September for a custom rescue pumper and received five proposals. The department recommended Safetek Emergency Vehicles Ltd., which submitted a bid for $548,900.

Terry Peters, deputy fire chief, said the bonus for the department is that Safetek’s bid was the lowest and that the company was reputable.

In all, the fire department received five responses to the RFP. The proposals were evaluated by a team of reviewers led by Peters.

Peters presented a report about the evaluation and recommended to award the contract to Safetek at the November 7 committee-of-the-whole meeting. “This is a renowned company,” he said. “We do have one vehicle now from the same company and we’re very pleased with it.”

In addition to providing a reasonable price, Safetek’s bid demonstrated a strong capacity to support and service the vehicle. Safetek is the Canadian dealer for Smeal Fire Apparatus Co. equipment and has its head office in Abbotsford, alongside a subsidiary company, ProFire Emergency Equipment, the authorized warranty centre.

The truck will be manufactured in Nebraska. A $700,000 expenditure for a new truck was approved in the city’s 2013 budget, funded from the equipment replacement plan. The report on the new truck notes that there will be additional costs for inspection trips and equipment to furnish the vehicle not included in the RFP.

The fire department asked council to consider the motion approving the contract at that evening’s council meeting. Elected officials agreed and council passed a motion later in the evening to award the contract to Safetek.

It’s expected the truck could arrive in Powell River in about nine months.