The first meeting was basically an introduction to the budget and budgeting process, but staff did ask for permission to hire an additional heavy duty mechanic.
Not all councillors were willing to spend an additional $136,500 on another mechanic. “This position would take our seven percent increase up to eight, eight and a half percent and we haven’t looked at capital projects,” says Councillor Norbury. “I’d be concerned that if we want to meet our 9 percent mandate, we’re stuck choosing between do we get a new mechanic or do we look at capital projects?” He asks how much is the district spending on having to get vehicles repaired by third parties.
CAO Lisa Scott says that in 2022, they spent $19,000 to cover a six week leave for the mechanic. “The mechanic is responsible for repair and maintenance of over 200 vehicles:: Gators, golf carts, lawn mowers, weed eaters, generators, bobcat, loader, grader, street sweeper, community centre maintenance equipment, Zamboni, etc. The sheer number of vehicles, equipment and apparatus requiring repair and maintenance means that we are quite often working in a reactive capacity on repairs, reducing the ability to carry out an effective preventative maintenance program.”
She says hiring another mechanic would allow the district to improve its preventative maintenance program, potentially extending the life spans of the vehicles, as well as “reducing equipment downtime by having the ability to work on more than one piece of equipment at a time. Sharing this large workload between two mechanics will assist with preventing burnout and fatigue, therefore improving job satisfaction and enhancing overall performance. A second mechanic will also ensure coverage for sick leave or vacation time and will reduce the requirement for outside assistance from contractors.”
Jason Bradley, Director of Operations and Infrastructure says that the mechanic needs to provide attention to 200 pieces of equipment, 365 days a year. “With one person, stuff does become backlogged and we need to be proactive. For a long time the district has been reactive with their maintenance program. To have a proactive maintenance program within the community will not only allow us to be able to extend the life expectancy of our equipment, it’s going to save us money in the long run.”
Has the District ever had two full-time mechanics, asks Councillor Norbury?
“We have not had two people that were categorized as full-time mechanics,” says CAO Scott, “But in 2021 we had a full-time mechanic and we also had the Fleet Manager, who was also a certified mechanic. We also had our Director of Operations at that time, who, too, was a certified mechanic that could assist the actual mechanic with work as needed.”
“That makes a lot of sense to me,” says Councillor Norbury. “If we managed with one mechanic this whole time, unless we’ve had a doubling of our equipment in the last year, why would we need to have two mechanics? But if there was previously a half time person who jump in when it was needed, that makes sense.”
Still, says Norbury, would it not be possible to bring in part-time or seasonal staff to help with that backlog?
Also, adds Mayor Krakowka, the Fleet Manager position was a trial position which didn’t seem to work out.
Councillor Gulick asks if it would be possible to bring on an apprentice instead of a full red-seal certified journeyman mechanic.
“Regardless if we hired an apprentice,” says Bradley, “the apprentice eventually becomes a journeyman, and we would have to have a place for that person.”
Mayor Krakowka says that some of that equipment is seasonal. “We have winter equipment that is used mainly in the winter time, but can be serviced in the summer. We have summer equipment that can mainly be looked at in the winter. If we add another mechanic, I have to be able to answer to it.”
Bradley says that having to bring in someone to cover just for the one mechanic’s holidays already costs the district about $60,000. “We did have a catastrophic failure on one of our emergency generators at the fire hall. Since then, we’ve implemented a maintenance program for every generator within the community weekly, so we can ensure everything is operational. We’ve also implemented a schedule for the recycle building, where the mechanic is taking care of the compactor.
Councillor Gulick says she’s in favour of the position. “The price tag always gives us a little bit of sticker shock. The important part here is we have staff who have given us a lot of reasons why it’s a positive step forward. This is also part of succession planning. If we don’t have somebody else to pick up the wrenches when the other mechanic chooses a different career path, that causes a problem.
It is important to have somebody within our organization who knows specific pieces of equipment, like the recycler. Not just anybody is going to have the expertise to go in and fix that. I think it’s important to have staff that understands the equipment we have. I used to work in a shop and if you didn’t know the right place to go, you might wind up paying double or triple the cost.”
Councillor Hoffman agrees. “There’s something to be said for some redundancy in such a critical position. It could be that our mechanic gets injured. This is not a light work situation and they could be out for a substantial time. What actually convinces me is the question of: will they have enough work between the two of them for a year? If the answer is yes and they’re extending the life of other equipment I think this is worth the investment and I hope to see longer uh lifespans on our equipment.”
Mayor Krakowka was opposed, but the motion carried.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
