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YORKTON -It was a win for both the Yorkton Airport and the City of Yorkton as Yorkton Council approved purchasing a new wheel loader.
The new loader has a price tag of $393,864 from Finning Canada which was identified by city administration as the best value for the City of Yorkton, explained René Richard, Director of Engineering and Asset Management with the city at the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.
Richard explained, in the 2024 approved capital budget, funding was allocated for the replacement of airport equipment. In addition to the rotary wing mower that was purchased in May 2024, a new wheel loader was identified as the next most critical piece of equipment required for the operation of the airport.
“Options were vetted with input from both the airport and fleet departments. Due to the amount of estimated hours the airport would use this piece of equipment, it was decided that a good, reliable, used loader would be the desired option. Also, a new loader would essentially eat up the airport’s entire budget for equipment replacement on just one piece reducing available funding for other equipment. Currently City operations utilizes four existing wheel loaders that are fleet services owned and maintained, however none of them are slated for replacement for some time as they are all in good working order,” detailed a report circulated to Council Monday.
“Upon further discussion, it was determined that the best option for the City as a whole would be for fleet services to tender and purchase a new wheel loader now, and sell one of the exiting loaders to the airport. This would allow the City to take advantage of the municipal discount on a new loader funded through the fleet reserve which would be utilized by operations for many years to come,” said Richard.
Essentially, fleet services would be purchasing a new loader ahead of schedule, but that would allow the airport to retain some their budget to be used on additional pieces of equipment as needed, he added.
Funding for this project will come from the Fleet Reserve and from the Airport Reserve.
Council was unanimous in approving the purchase.
