LANCASTER – The deputy mayor of South Glengarry is calling for an end to leasing pickup trucks for the municipality’s public works department.
During a budget meeting Friday morning, Lyle Warden said it’s “silly” the township is paying for well-maintained vehicles and also paying a full-time mechanic to maintain them, only to turn them back to the dealer in Green Valley to be sold.
“Leasing has got to go,” Warden quipped. “We need to buy these out ASAP. It’s so wasteful.” The deputy mayor would eventually like to see a policy to get away from leasing.
There are three pickup trucks assigned to the township’s water and sewer operations.
Coun. Sam McDonell agreed with doing away with leasing. He says it’s a “hard pill to swallow” for residents who have their water bills increase, only to see a shiny new pickup truck roll into the nearby water or sewer plant.
Corporate Services General Manager Ewen MacDonald told council they are only six months into the lease and buying them out from Roy’s in Green Valley would be around $93,000.
Under the lease agreement, each truck costs $535 per month.
MacDonald will be exploring with the dealership whether South Glengarry could buy out the vehicles but – instead of putting the entire chunk of money on the table – finance those trucks over the same amount of time.