The City of Salmon Arm is doing some early Christmas decoration shopping with the purchase of a $16,000 artificial tree for the Ross Street Plaza.
At its regular meeting Monday, council approved a request by staff to waive the city’s purchasing policy to sole source procurement of an LED-illuminated Christmas Tree from Dekra-Lite of Port Coquitlam for the quoted amount of $16,250 plus taxes.
City public works and engineering director Rob Niewenhuizen explained the tree is for the Ross Street Plaza, and that it will be a replacement for an older tree that was previously placed on the old court house property at the corner of Shuswap Street and Trans-Canada Highway.
Regarding the need for sole sourcing, Niewenhuizen explained staff tried to source out as many as they could, but there aren’t many options for Christmas trees that are 20-feet long.
“We are not able to source this type of Christmas tree from any other supplier due to the ability to add additional sections each year,” writes Niewenhuizen in a report to council.
The cost of the tree comes out of the city Capital Parks budget – $20,000 was budgeted for the expenditure.
“We saved money,” commented Coun. Kevin Flynn.
Asked what the lifespan of the new Christmas tree would be, Niewenhuizen replied, “We’re hoping we’ll get 15 years out of this.”
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lachlan@saobserver.net
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