Kelowna will spend millions on new vehicles in 2016

KELOWNA – Kelowna will be dropping lots of money on new wheels this year as it prepares to replace an assortment of vehicles.

The city will spend almost $2 million in 2016 replacing 25 vehicles or pieces of equipment of various types that are at the end of their service life cycles.

That includes 15 light duty vehicles, two single-axle trucks, three tandem-axle trucks, four slide-in sanders and a front-end loader.

Taxpayers are actually getting off lightly though. A replacement review called for 52 vehicles or pieces of equipment to be retired and replaced but staff sharpened their pencils and brought the list down by half.

The $2-million replacement cost will come from equipment reserves instead of taxation in 2016.

The city is also spending $417,000 to buy three roll-off front-end loaders for use at the Commonage Road compost facility near Vernon. A third of this purchase will be funded by the City of Vernon, a partner in the facility that processes biosolids into OgoGrow.

Another $516,000 will go to a specialized hydro excavator that improves employee safety and reduces damage risk to buried cables and infrastructure. The city currently spends $300 an hour to rent the excavator, along with an operator, and expects to recoup the investment in about five years.

The Rutland arena will benefit from a new ice resurfacer, with the city spending $130,000 to get a new one for the arena. The current unit is one of four and is due for replacement after 13 years and 6,000 service hours.

Kelowna Fire Department is also ordering $1.6 million worth of fire trucks this year.

To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.