Niverville Town Council has agreed to make a $20,000 deposit on a new Rescue 1 vehicle for the Niverville Fire Department.

Mayor Myron Dyck says every year the various town departments provide a list of their top priorities and a new Rescue 1 truck has been the top priority at the fire department for the last three years.

"Currently we have a 1990 Chevrolet Suburban that is used for this purpose, it has done us well but it is getting tired. We had put a budget in place but we have a purchase of opportunity that has come up where this Dodge Ram 5500 series demo unit is available. It is at a price point which is below what we thought."

This new Rescue 1 vehicle will be used to house water rescue and medical first response equipment. It will also have significantly more storage space and will free up space on existing firetrucks.

Dyck says their initial budget for a Rescue 1 replacement was set at $200,000 but the unit that was being used as a demo vehicle is significantly lower, coming in at $140,000. He notes it also has some add-ons that are above and beyond what they were initially planning.

"The fire department can go through various add-ons as they would see priority, and one that this unit has already for this price is a light tower which is about a $25,000 feature which wouldn't have been a part of our original spec so we are excited to see that included in this and we believe this will be a vehicle that will serve our community and our fire department for many years."

Dyck says the vast majority of the cost of this Rescue 1 replacement is set to come out of the Niverville Fire Department’s existing budget. He notes every year the various departments get a budget and if they don’t use it all, it can roll over to the next year which allows departments to plan for such upgrades.

"We want to empower our departments to be able to make their own decisions. They are professionals, they have greater knowledge in their field of expertise than we as council may have, we do oversee of course but they have identified this as a priority so now with this purchase of opportunity we believe this is the right time to act."

Dyck says the town will cover $30,000 in addition to what the fire department is paying from their budget. He notes now that a $20,000 down payment is in place the town CAO and Fire Chief will go look at the vehicle in person and decide whether or not to purchase it.