Council here has approved the purchase of three pickup trucks from Harriston-based Leslie Motors.
The local dealership submitted the only bids to supply the vehicles. The company’s bids included two 2013 F-150 supercab 4×4 pickups and a 2013 F-250 regular cab 4×4 truck. Total cost for the three vehicles is $88,844, plus approximately $7,000 per vehicle for HST, road weather watch systems and other accessories. The town will receive a total of $6,000 for the trade in of two used trucks.
Council approved a staff recommendation to accept the bid at its May 7 meeting.
In February, council had elected to purchase three pickup trucks from Leslie Motors, which submitted the low bids on two of the tenders.
At that time, council voted in favor of purchasing all three vehicles from the local dealership, rather than accepting a slightly lower tender (about $800) from Arthur Chrysler for the third vehicle.
At the April 2 meeting, council passed a motion to reconsider the Feb. 19 motion “due to technical concerns with the specification and the review.” Council also directed the purchase be re-tendered.
Councillor Ron Elliott asked why only one bid was received through the latest tender process. The original tender had attracted bids from three dealerships.
CAO Bill White told council all six area dealerships originally approached with a request to quote on the vehicles were contacted after the decision to re-tender was made.
“I don’t think there were any concerns. It was just a matter of timing – it’s later in the year, availability of vehicles …” said White.
