County’s decision to buy new trucks from outside the area questioned

By Fred Groves

An Essex County Councillor has questions regarding the purchase of several new trucks for the County.

At the recent regular Essex County council meeting, Lakeshore Deputy Mayor Kirk Walstedt wanted to know why the county was not purchasing some of them from local dealerships.

Director of Infrastructure and Planning Services

Allan Botham informed county council during last Wednesday night’s meeting that three half-ton; two three-quarter-ton; and a pair of one-and-a-half-ton trucks were being ordered.

“The number of trucks the county is replacing is higher than in a typical year. The vendors selected in 2022 to supply the trucks told the county they simply couldn’t provide the trucks, so we combined it with this year,” said Botham.

The half-ton trucks are coming from Toronto at a cost of $193,041, the three-quarter-ton vehicles are being purchased through Windsor Chrysler for $129,338, and the larger trucks also from Toronto will cost $169,874.

Botham said the total cost is $110,000 over budget and they will take from 20 to 50 weeks to be delivered.

Walstedt wanted to know if any local dealers could provide a quicker delivery date and questioned if the new trucks will be able to be serviced locally.

“The lots in Essex County, there’s a lot of them but they’re not full. Unless these are specifically designed or equipped, I don’t know why it takes 32 weeks to get them from Toronto,” questioned Walstedt.

Botham said that the county is bound to follow guidelines of municipal procurement policy and the dealerships that bid on the trucks did it through the proper process.

“We don’t specifically go to local suppliers and remind them this is open,” said Botham.

Walstedt said that perhaps it is time to take a closer look at the procurement policy in order to have local suppliers represented.

“We do have a relationship with local dealers but many of them don’t want to fill out the paperwork we require. Very often, that happens,” said Botham.

Director of finance/treasurer Sandra Zwiers said that the county could go back to its procurement team and make sure there is good communication with the local dealers.

“There is a two-way relationship. We need the market to engage with us,” said Zwiers. “We would love to support our local dealers and have much shorter delivery times.”

Walstedt wanted to know whether or not warranty would still be good on the trucks that are 2023 models but won’t be delivered until 2024.