M.D. of Taber selling off surplus equipment

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

With capital equipment purchases complete for the Municipal District of Taber, a surplus equipment list has been prepared for all units being replaced.

This year sees 10 pieces of equipment on the list going up for bid with the public opening of tender bids scheduled for on May 24.

Equipment on the list this year includes a 2009 Dodge 2500 (three-quarter ton truck, crew cab and approx. 205,000 KM), 2007 Chevrolet 1500 (half ton, regular cab and approx.
180,000 KM), 2010 Dodge 1500 (half ton, crew cab and approx. 280,000 KM), 2012 GMC 1500 (half ton, regular cab and approx. 240,000 KM), 2007 International 9900i (9900 highway tractor and approx. 8,500 hours), 2012 John Deere 870 G (grader w/ wing and approx. 8,000 hours), 2012 CAT 966K (loader w/ bucket and approx. 12,000 hours), 2014 Arctic Cat Quad 700cc (two 16 gallon spray tanks), a Ford truck (motor and transmission as is where is removal by purchaser) and a tank skid (300 gallon tank with pressure pump and plumbing).

“It’s very similar to last year, the only difference is I provided a few more options as far as what we could do. Option four mainly, construction equipment placed on consignment with equipment dealers,” said Jeremy Wickson, director of public works at the M.D.’s regular meeting on April 30. “In a lot of cases we don’t get a lot of bids on our larger stuff or bids we recommended not to accept because essentially they were low ball offers.”

Council was presented with four different options in regard to moving forward with sales of the surplus equipment.

Option one was to advertise surplus equipment in local newspapers for public bids, option two was to advertise to auction companies for cash bidding, option three was for all equipment to be entered into unreserved auctions and the final possibility was for construction equipment to be placed on consignment with equipment dealers.

With council previously discussing transferring a truck to Enchant, Coun. Leavitt Howg inquired if one on the list would be sufficient.

The current Enchant Parks truck is a 2005 half ton with 256,000 kilometres.

“I think there was some discussion on unit 1-17 (2010 Dodge 1500) when it was available. That was Kirk Hughes’ (director of planning and economic development) previous truck,” replied Wickson, who estimates the truck needs an upwards of $1,000 worth of work. “1-17 is probably the best overall shape as it was primarily highway miles. The interior is also in good shape.”

Coun. Murray Reynolds asked if the truck would be able to be used right off the bat or if work would be needed before it was employed in Enchant.

“You could run it but there are a few things I would recommend to get done. Have the mechanics go over it and assess it basically,” answered Wickson.

Another inquiry came from Reeve Merrill Harris who asked about the possibility of using the Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to sell the equipment.

“Any equipment we have sold to Ritchie Brothers over the last few years has gone to their Lethbridge sale. They are filling their auctions from all over the area. To get the best value for anything, it is supply and demand,” said Wickson. “On a previous year, we sold some equipment outright to Ritchie Brothers and put some in an auction and pretty much got the same value after commission rates. The market for equipment is still pretty stacked.”

Viewing hours for the equipment is listed for Monday to Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the M.D. Operations building yard on Highway 3 between Taber and Barnwell.

No equipment will be removed until cheques have cleared and successful bidders will be notified on June 11 after council review and approval.

A motion was passed to advertise equipment in local newspapers for public bids and to advertise to auction companies for cash bidding, and to swap the 2010 Dodge 1500 for the current Enchant Parks truck.

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