Township of Muskoka Lakes councillors had their chequebooks at the ready during their latest council meeting.
Councilors signed off on nearly $1 million worth of equipment, primarily for the fire department.
Among the additions was a new pumper truck for $579,860. The fire truck will replace an existing one in Foots Bay. Council also signed off on $56,485 for auto rescue tools, $55,260 for 20 new sets of bunker gear and $50,171 for a rigid bottom inflatable boat for fire rescue.
Fire Chief Ryan Murrell explained that the boat will be identical to the one they currently keep in Port Carling.
Murrell said Muskoka Lakes contains some 44 inlake lakes which can’t be accessed with their regular fire boats. He said the previous plan was simply to borrow someone’s boat if necessary but that solution presented several health and safety concerns.
Having two boats will also allow the fire department to use one for the rescue of people and one for the delivery of firefighting equipment, said Murrell.
Council also decided to purchase a new Zamboni. There was some debate as to whether to proceed with the staff-recommended propane Zamboni for $96,700 or go ahead with a more costly electric ice resurfacing machine.
The majority of council ultimately agreed that the advantages of the electric Zamboni, such as a lower operating cost in the elimination of pollution inside the arena, outweighed the $160,700 price tag. Council heard the new electric Zamboni doesn’t have any performance issues and, typically a fully charged battery lasts for roughly 10 floods. A flood of 10 minutes requires roughly 20 minutes of charging.