Indianola council approves surplus of rescue truck and several equipment purchases

The Indianola City Council on July 6 approved authorizing the sale of a surplus light rescue truck and voted to purchase a Bobcat E55-R2 compact excavator and a pickup for the Water Resource Recovery Department.

Fire leadership told council staff had an appraiser estimate a market range of about $235,000 for the rescue truck. "[An appraiser] had given us a range about $235,000 for the truck," the fire chief said, adding that operational changes and the transfer of extrication tools to an engine made the rescue unit redundant for city needs.

Council moved, seconded and passed a resolution to declare the vehicle surplus and authorize sale; the clerk recorded the roll call in support of the motion. The chief described marketing options (government auction with reserve price, and services that charge a fee on sale) and said staff would coordinate a reserve price with the city manager.

Separately, the council approved a purchase agreement with Capital City Equipment for a Bobcat excavator; staff said the purchase will be paid from the road use tax fund and was included in the FY27 budget, and therefore will not reduce planned road projects. Council also approved a budgeted pickup for the Water Resource Recovery Division; staff said the FY27 budget included $50,000 for the vehicle and a vendor bid (transcript: "Shrek") came in at about $48,006.78, under budget.

Why it matters: The actions update the city's fleet and remove an aging apparatus that staff said was costly to maintain; the approvals were budgeted and, according to staff, should not affect project delivery.

What’s next: Staff will list the surplus vehicle for sale and proceed with procurement and delivery for the Bobcat and pickup per FY27 budget timelines.

(Reporting note: quotes and vote actions are from the July 6 city council meeting transcript.)