Town gets sticker-shocked at price of mowing equipment

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By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Town council had a bit of a rude awakening when it came time to buy new mowing equipment for the public fleet. Purchasing a new Degelman sidearm implement and Schulte tri-deck mower was going to be roughly $45,000 more than what the Town had budgeted for. The combined total for the two items is expected to be $94,460 before taxes.

On March 11 Lisa DeBona, waste services and administration manager, told council, “We had the approved budget for 2023, and when we sent out quotes the prices had doubled, which is unfortunate.” After Coun. Bekkering offered DeBona the suggestion that it would have been ideal to call the dealership and ask for a price quote before setting the budget; she replied that at the time she was not setting it. “Just a suggestion,” Bekkering said.

“I’d do that now, for sure,” she said to laughter in the room.

The administration recommended that council approve additional funds in the amount of $21,900 plus GST for a new sidearm, with funds to come from capital reserves. The meeting agenda said, “The purchase of a new Degelman sidearm was approved in the 2023 capital budget for a budget of $20,000 from reserves. As we obtained quotes following the procurement policy we found that prices have gone up significantly since 2007 (which is when we purchased the last sidearm of this type). The current pricing offered and confirmed through the RMA purchasing program is at $41,900 not including GST, through Western Tractor in Taber. They are the distributors of Degelman and also who we order parts for repairs and maintenance.”

The sidearm attaches the tractor to the offset mower. The Town is aiming to have two similar mower set ups in the public works fleet; one main unit made up of a tractor, sidearm and mower and one backup of the same setup. The equipment is reportedly difficult to find as rentals. The unit is responsible for all of the large highway ditch mowing and large flat grassed areas. The new Degelman would replace an old 2007 unit, which has now exceeded its life expectancy of about 15 years. The financial implication is a capital cost of $41,900 from the capital reserves, with $20,000 approved in 2023 and carried forward to 2024.

DeBona and the administration made a second recommendation directly related to the first: that council approve an additional $22,560 plus GST for the purchase of a new Schulte mower, with funds to come from the capital reserves. “The purchase of a new 15’ Schulte Tri-Deck Mower was approved in the 2023 capital budget for a budget of $30,000 from reserves,” the agenda said, “We found that prices have gone up significantly since 2015 (which is when we purchased the last mower of this size for $24,700). The current pricing offered and confirmed through the RMA purchasing program is at $52,560 plus GST, through the Flaman Group of Companies located in Lethbridge.” There are no local vendors of the equipment but the public works department orders parts locally for repairs and maintenance.

The new mower would replace a 2011 Woods tri-deck mower, which is expected to last for 10-15 years. There is an increased efficiency from having two of the same model as there are shared parts. The financial implication is a capital cost of $52,560 from the capital reserves, $30,000 of which was approved in 2023 and carried forward to 2024.

Public works will continue to use the older equipment as backups until they are beyond repair. Coun. McLean asked DeBona if there was any chance of buying used equipment as a replacement and DeBona said, “There are used ones that are in roughly the same shape as this one.” Council moved to fund the two purchases from capital reserves and unanimously approved them.

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