Dear Editor,
I can’t help but feel Mapleton council fishing around in my pocket again. Only in government does buying $200,000 worth of equipment to save $9,000 per year make any sense. Justifications include the potential to share with other municipalities. We all know that once the excavator and float are purchased, not to mention the hiring of a full time employee, the tax payers are on the hook to cover the costs and contracting it out will be long forgotten. Interestingly, the analysis provided to council doesn’t seem to include the operating cost of the equipment, which likely means that between the hiring of an operator and purchasing of the equipment results in costing us more than the current system of hiring a contractor to complete the work as needed. As budget season rolls around, I am sure this is just one of many examples of how our hard earned tax dollars are and are going to be wasted with weak excuses as to how it is supposed to make sense.
Mike Minogue
Mike Minogue