Some confusion arose in regards to Local Improvement By-law 3-2019 for a new fire rescue vehicle in Morden.

Currently, the Morden Fire Service's heavy rescue vehicle needs replacing, with the cab falling off the chassis.

The purchase of a new vehicle for the fire services is part of the city's 20-year tax levy, where funds are placed within the Capital Equipment Replacement Reserve (CERR), so when the 20-year window is up, money is in hand to purchase a new truck.

However, Mayor Brandon Burley says the city is quite behind in their books and they still haven't submitted 2017 and 2018 year ends. In 2017 when the decision to purchase a new firetruck was approved, they had intended to pay with CERR, but there wasn't enough money in the account.

"It had been transferred out and used for a different thing in 2016 or 2017, which should never have happened," says Burley. "Subsequently, what happened was the truck came in at about $200,000 higher, and in the budget of 2018, it was identified to be paid for by debenture because that's when they found out there was no money left in the account."

Since then, the price of the truck has risen to approximately $820,000 in part to American steel tariffs and inflation on the manufacturer's end. Burley adds the city has a contract, and the truck must be paid for by December, and without money to do so, a borrowing by-law has to be implemented.

Not only is the city paying for this new vehicle, but they also have to contribute back into the CERR to pay for the next truck 20 years down the line. This means for some years, Morden will be double paying for fire vehicles.

Burley hopes they can receive financing with how far back their books are, but that remains to be seen. Where the money will come from has not been determined. Council will look at interest rates, and By-law 3-2019 will return to the council for second and third reading as the by-law would be amended to account for the interest rate and where the funds came from.

For the future, items within the CERR will be evaluated annually to ensure sufficient funds are allocated to avoid another situation like this.

Morden's Marketing and Communications Director, Viktor Karklins, says they are pushing to improve communication with the citizens of Morden. He says while there was some isolated confusion surrounding the firetruck, the confusion was more about the process rather than a significant change in how the city operates or a considerable change in what was approved.

He encourages anyone who has questions to reach out by email to, watch council videos online, or visit the Civic Centre on Wednesday mornings for Meet the Mayor and ask Mayor Burley questions in person.