Thinking long-term, city council will purchase two new fuel trucks instead of one new and one used vehicle for the city’s new jet fueling facility at the Campbell River Airport.
Council elected to scrap the original plan to buy a used airport fuel truck after just a single bid to provide the truck materialized from the tender issued by the city earlier this year.
Clinton Crook, the city’s senior buyer, told council in a report that airport staff found several problems with the submission as the used vehicle was a 2006 model from the United States. That meant the fuel tanks, pumps and associated equipment would need to be re-certified to meet Canadian standards.
Crook said further that the vehicle only came with a 30 day/3,000 mile mechanical warranty and the useful life of the used fuel vehicle could only be determined upon inspection. He added that there was a likely chance that other unforeseen costs would arise “to hire different industry professionals to ensure a used fuel truck meets regulatory compliance as well as mechanical suitability.”
Crook said that at the end of the day, “it would be more advantageous to purchase two, rather than one, airport jet fuel delivery vehicles.”
That decision, however, puts the project over budget by $104,844 when compared to the amount ($509,408) council allocated for the trucks.
The trucks are a key piece of the city’s new Airport Fuel Facility which, in its entirety, is now forecast to cost the city $1.3 million.
The entire cost, though, will not be borne by the city. A $903,750 grant from the BC Air Access Program (BCAP), ultimately pays for 75 per cent of the project’s costs.
“As such, the over budget amount for purchasing two new trucks with funding available from savings from the BCAP grant would allow the city to receive two new trucks…without the requirements and potential issues of a used truck…and would provide the city with a full useful life estimated to exceed 20 years,” Crook wrote in his report to council. “This would also reduce the annual operating exepenses of the airport department as the annual fleet charge would include a much higher capital replacement cost under the city’s fleet model for a used fuel truck versus a new truck with a much longer useful life.”
Mayor Andy Adams said he is appreciative of the work city staff put in to come to that conclusion.
“Really appreciate the work staff has done in working the numbers so we’ll have top of the line equipment to serve the community,” Adams said.
Coun. Colleen Evans agreed.
“This is a good news story for Campbell River,” Evan said, adding that the BCAP grant has “really enabled us to move forward on this initiative.”
The new above ground fuel storage system will replace the existing, underground fueling system run by Imperial Oil which is nearing the end of its life span and was unlikely to be replaced.
The new system is expected to save on fuel costs and will offer a permanent medevac operational area, which will provide direct acccess to emergency fuel for ambulances, aircraft and dedicated fuel trucks to help support 24/7 operations.
The new fuel delivery trucks are expected to be delivered this fall, with the first arriving in Campbell River in October and the second in November.