The Strathcona Regional District will have a regional fire service, after the board voted to approve the measure during their May 10 board meeting.
There was no discussion at the regional district board table as the board voted on the service. All board members were in favour of the motion.
The regional fire service will provide assistance to the different fire departments within the regional district with training, inspections, meeting regulatory requirements, purchasing equipment and other administrative tasks. In October, the board received an early look at the concept, which included the previously-mentioned areas of service. SRD staff have since worked to further refine the service.
Through hiring two positions, the district will be able to provide the services described. Based on relative sizes of the fire departments within the regional district communities, about 60 per cent of the resources will go to Campbell River, and the remaining 40 per cent will be split between the remaining seven volunteer fire departments. However, if new fire departments are established this arrangement could change, according to the SRD staff report.
To fund the service, the SRD will be setting a $400,000 annual limit that will be part of the general administration fund for the regional district. That works out to be about $0.02 per thousand dollars of residential property assessment, or about $16 for the regional district’s typical $800,000 property.
Communities would get the chance to determine their level of participation, depending on their needs and priorities, the report says.
The report says that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs advised the SRD that this service did not need to be established with a separate bylaw, and could be added to the general administration service. That would prevent it from needing to go to voter approval.
Director Gerald Whalley made a motion to incorporate it into the general administration, which was approved without discussion.
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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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