Lethbridge County council commits up to $18,000 for Nobleford fire hose pump repair

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

Lethbridge County will be contributing heavily to a pump rebuild on a Nobleford Fire engine.

During their regular Feb. 20 meeting, Lethbridge County council discussed needed repairs on a Nobleford fire engine.

Nobleford’s Fire Engine 109 is a jointly-owned county and town engine that is used primarily in the county. The water pump on the engine is in need of being rebuilt at an estimated cost of $23,000, with the county’s share of the repair is 70 per cent of the cost, according to the county’s fire agreement with Nobleford, or about $16,100. Noting that while the $23,000 price tag of the repair is what is in the report, Larry Randle, director of community services for the county, said that since the report was published they learned that the final price tag is likely to be lower.

“The pump repair is considered an operational matter versus a capital matter, because it really is a repair,” said Randle. “In 2017, the pump on that truck had a weak test, it was still functionally. In 2018, it failed the pump test rather, and still had sufficient operating capacity, but it sounded like it was going downhill, and in 2019 a test revealed that it had declined, reduced pressure even further, and there was significant leaking that was evident to the eye. So the pump ultimately needs to be rebuilt to maintain a safe and functional operating condition and to provide good service to the Town of Nobleford and to the citizens in Lethbridge County.”

Randle said he didn’t believe there were any other “feasible or cost effective” alternatives to rebuilding the pump at this point.

Reeve Lorne Hickey asked when the pump was scheduled to be replaced, as if they needed to replace it within the year there wasn’t much point of spending money on the repair. Randle said he didn’t have that information on hand at the moment.

“Nobleford seems to be of the opinion that they want to stretch equipment to the end.”

Coun. Steve Campbell said the pump was around 10 years old, which Hickey noted was “not old at all”.

CAO Ann Mitchell added that when they look at their fire agreements with neighbouring municipalities this year, they are looking to make them a little more “understandable with equipment”.

Council unanimously passed a motion that up to $18,000 be withdrawn from the Emergency Services Contingency Reserve for the repair of the pump on Nobleford’s Fire Engine 109.

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