Council approved jet boat repairs after the fact

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Town council found themselves blindsided last week, when they were informed thousands of dollars had already been spent on vital repairs to the Strathmore Fire Department’s (SFD) jet boat prior to council approving the funds.
Captain of the SFD Bas Owel informed council on May 18 that the department’s surface rescue boat was in dire need of repairs, where the vessel had sustained cracks and major deficiencies with the motor and motor mounts deemed critical to repair.
To ensure the safety of the firefighters and due to not having a highly reliable operational boat, the repairs were made without prior council approval, racking up a $22,360.39 bill the town was now expected to pay.
The deficiencies were identified last November, and with only weeks to go to launch the boat into the water, the timeline raised concerns in council chambers last week.
“I’m a little disappointed,” said Councillor Brad Walls. “We knew about this since last November that the repairs had to be done and we waited until a month before we’re going to be needing the boat to make repairs. I really hope that’s not our practice. I really hope administration will look into the reason as to why we delayed 6 to 8 months to get repairs done that should’ve been done in a little more timely fashion in my mind.”
The jet boat, which was already used at the time, was purchased by the Volunteer Fire Association in 2008 with $40,000 donated by the Legion Ladies Auxiliary.
With $22,000 spent on repairs, other councillors felt the issue should’ve been brought to council sooner for a decision to be made on whether to pay for repairs or replace the vessel. Owel was unable to provide council with a future date when the boat is expected to be replaced, stating that it wasn’t listed in the capital plan for replacement.
“I feel embarrassed,” said Owel. “I do my best to bring things in front of council before those things occur. That’s what I’ll do with the next item I’ll bring to council. Repairs that were made to the boat should enable the boat to be used for a number of years going forward. I will assure you that no citizens were put in jeopardy as a result of repairs not getting done. It was done at an opportune time for those repairs.”
Council also discussed the importance of setting aside funds within the budget for major repairs to prevent having to constantly dip into the town’s financial stabilization reserve. Administration also commented in regards to rescue missions outside of the town limits, stating that invoices had been mailed out in the past but no payment had been received. Along with Strathmore, Calgary and Siksika are also able to perform surface rescue missions.
“I think it’s the responsibility of council to make sure that there is a line in that budget to put repairs in there,” said Councillor Peterson. “Secondly, in light of the workout that that boat got last summer, and I know that our fire department performed a heroic and highly dangerous rescue and saved lives on the Bow River, it seems reasonable to me that if a boat such as this needed repair it would be done. I will be asking administration in future planning sessions to take a look at our budget in this regard and I think that we need a contingency.
Council voted unanimously to approve the repairs with the funds being drawn from financial stabilization. The jet boat was repaired in time for the upcoming season.