Kincardine contract with Paisley Fire Department goes down in flames

Kincardine has opted not to renew an over-priced contract with the Paisley Fire Department, providing fire services to the northeast section of the municipality.

 

In committee-of-the-whole last night (Aug. 3), chief administrative officer Murray Clarke said the automatic aid agreement was put in place six years ago when Kincardine bowed out of the Paisley Fire Board.

 

That agreement expired last December, and in March of this year, Clarke, along with Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie, the director of finance and the fire chief, met with the Paisley Fire Board and Arran-Elderslie mayor Paul Eagleson, to review the agreement and negotiate a new agreement. A similar meeting was being held between Brockton and Arran-Elderslie.

 

In reviewing the agreement, Kincardine officials realized they have been paying far more than their fair share, said Clarke.

 

Over the past five years:

 

• Kincardine has paid 40 per cent more than Brockton
• Kincardine has had 221 per cent fewer response calls than Brockton (14 versus 45)
• This equates to an average cost per response call of $24,116 for Kincardine, compared to $5,371 for Brockton
• Kincardine has 23 per cent fewer properties in the fire area compared to Brockton (204 properties compared to 251)
• Kincardine's property assessment value in the fire area is seven-per-cent lower than Brockton
• Saugeen Shores, in an agreement with the fire board, pays a fixed annual fee plus a cost per response call, for the same service

 

In turn, Kincardine sent a proposed agreement to the fire board which reflects the Saugeen Shores model, with a fixed rate of $125 and a service call rate of $1,350 per response, said Clarke.

 

Kincardine also proposed the following:

 

• Kincardine Fire and Emergency Services would assume responsibility of all incidents after the emergency response and mitigation had been completed. Typically, this would have the Kincardine fire department assume command of an incident after two hours or less, and release the Paisley Fire Department of the financial burden at a prolonged incident.
• Kincardine Fire Department would assume responsibility for all fire scene investigations after the call.

 

Clarke said the proposal was sent to the Paisley Fire Board, March 16, and to date, there has been no response, other than a bill for $77,981.25 for fire services. To date, Paisley has responded to two calls.

 

Since an agreement has not been reached, Clarke recommended that council notify Arran-Elderslie with notice to withdraw from the agreement in 180 days, which was the end of June. Then notify Bell to change the enhanced 911 call location data on a pre-determined date, to show the Kincardine Fire Department as the response agency for the area, and for the Tiverton fire station to assume responsibility for the area.

 

“Staff deeply regrets how this has transpired,” said Clarke, “but the automatic aid agreement has been terminated.”

 

He said that during conversations with Eagleson, it was obvious that there was no harmony between the Arran-Elderslie mayor and the Paisley Fire Board.

 

Clarke noted that the recent wheat field fire call went to the Paisley Fire Department – with 25 acres of wheat stubble and a vehicle on fire – and three people responded. Kincardine firefighters had to provide back-up.

 

In answer to a question from council, Clarke said this decision to terminate the agreement, will not affect the Bruce County mutual aid agreement.

 

Councillor Randy Roppel said it's an unfortunate situation. “I was hoping the fire board would sit down with staff and draw up a new agreement. However, we have to do something in order to be accountable to our own ratepayers and the people affected by the way we respond to fires in that area.”

 

He urged council to set up a meeting with those people to explain the situation.

 

Councillor Mike Leggett said there has been a great deal of animosity about this agreement for the past six years. “If we have no agreement, then we save our taxpayers $78,000 in taxes.”

 

Deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert asked why Leggett was so dissatisfied with the whole process.

 

“We don't want to rehash it all again,” said mayor Anne Eadie. “Our proposal was more than generous. We were quite reasonable in our negotiations with the fire board.”

 

In a recorded vote, all members of committee-of-the-whole, except Leggett, agreed to terminate the agreement with the Paisley Fire Board. Councillor Andrew White was absent.

 

Later, in council session, that decision was endorsed, by the same 7-1 recorded vote.

 

Besides terminating the agreement, council directed staff to pay a prorated amount based on the current fee schedule for the period from Jan. 1 to June 30,2016, and that senior staff continue to pursue dialogue with officials of Arran-Elderslie, with an aim of arriving at a mutually-agreeable agreement.