HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-04-15, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010. PAGE 15.Huron County councillor andformer warden John Bezaire hadsome harsh words for Huron County
council regarding its involvement in
the squabble between several lower
tiers over their fire coverage at the
April 7 meeting.
Central Huron reeve Bezaire asked
if Huron County council would
like to make its official
position known on the fire coverage
issue, despite the fact that fire
coverage has historically been
handled by the lower tier
municipalities.
“This is a situation that could
gravely and seriously affect the fire
protection services for a
large number of people,”
Bezaire said. “As the leaders of
leaders, would Huron County
council be willing to take a position
on this matter and show someleadership?”In order to discuss such a motion,a previously-discussed motionwould have to be brought back to thefloor, which would require a
majority vote, which Bezaire did not
receive.
Bezaire said that while it was his
best of intentions that sought to
bring this motion forward, he didn’t
expect there to be a change in the
way of thinking by Huron County
councillors.
“We have had this situation before
in a different area and Huron
County has turned down the
chance to be a leader before,” he
said. “I’m not expecting an epiphany
here and I have a feeling these
comments will simply fall on deaf
ears.”
Councillor Joe Seili, speaking
from the Municipality of Huron East
said that he was not willing to turn
over the operation of fire serviceover to Huron County. He said thisbecause of the treatment he feltHuron East received whenambulance service was turned overto Huron County.
“Speaking from the under-
serviced area in the county from an
ambulance perspective, I’m not
willing to turn over fire services to
the county,” he said. “We’ve had the
ambulance in Seaforth taken away
from us.”
Councillor Deb Shewfelt didn’t
speak to the motion one way or
another, he simply said that fire
coverage is a lower tier issue and
that Huron County council shouldn’t
even be discussing it.
Bezaire and North Huron’s
Murray Scott were the only
councillors to vote in favour of
Huron County council taking a stand
on the fire coverage issue of the
lower tier municipalities.
North Huron councillors are
concerned for the safety of
neighbouring Central Huron
residents after fire coverage
negotiations with that council have
broken down.
Previously covered by the Blyth
Fire Department under the Blyth and
Area Fire Board agreement, Central
Huron claims the northern part of the
township has been covered by the
Clinton fire department since
January.
However, the chief of the newly
formed North Huron Fire
Department John Black says his
department has continued to respond
to calls out of the Blyth station
because no agreement has been
reached with Central Huron after the
Blyth Area board dissolution Dec.
31.
In a letter from Central Huron
CAO Kevin McLlwain dated March
31, he stated that since Central
Huron has been covering the
area themselves out of Clinton
they will not be paying charges
to North Huron from January to
April.
However, Black said his
firefighters have responded to four
calls in Central Huron this year, and
have never run into Central Huron
firefighters on-scene.
On April 6, McLlwain sent another
letter to North Huron stating a need
to come up with an interim
agreement so North Huron
can respond to calls in Central
Huron until they can get their 911
polygons changed so that calls
can be rerouted to their dispatch
and responded to by the Clinton
station.
North Huron councillors are
worried that is too far and the
response times will be too slow for
the northerly residents of Central
Huron.
“I think it’s very dangerous when
politics plays into emergency
services,” said Coun. Archie
MacGowan.
The response time from Clinton to
south of Blyth could be up to 15
minutes longer compared to a
dispatch from the Blyth station.
“It’s a perilous road they've started
on. It should be the one that’s
called is the closest. I don’t know
what they’re thinking... these are
people’s lives here," MacGowan
said.
And while North Huron has
agreed to extend coverage into
the area out of moral obligation
to the residents, (pending
approval from the Office of the
Fire Marshal) they refused to
come up with an interim
agreement which was requested by
Central Huron council several weeks
ago.
“If they’re covering it, they're
covering it. Why do we need an
agreement?” said MacGowan.
He said North Huron has been
more than willing to negotiate
the cost and level of service, and
the two townships have been in
talks since January when the
Blyth and Area Fire Board was
dissolved.
North Huron’s proposal would
have Central Huron paying $105,000
per year to cover the area previously
covered by the former Blyth Board
agreement.
Continued from page 1
appraisal has businesses in the
protected band paying 27 cents per
$100,000 of business worth,
businesses in the semi-protected
band paying 37 cents per $100,000
of business worth, and businesses in
the non-protected band paying 75
cents per $100,000 of business
worth.
Businesses in the affected areas
could be looking at a nearly 50 per
cent increase.
Elliott stated that he has attended
meetings in Central Huron to try and
convince the council to re-evaluate
their plan.
“I spoke to Clinton’s council in
February,” he said. “And as I left, I
felt I had provided them with
knowledge about the fire insurance
grid that they were not aware of, but
I think it fell on deaf ears.”
The bylaw to finalize plans for
ACW’s fire coverage is slated to
come back to council in the near
future. ACW meets on the first and
third Tuesdays of every month at
7:30 p.m., with their next meeting
held on April 21.
The choice of the coverage area
for the Seaforth Area Fire Board
came under fire by Huron East
councillors at their April 6 meeting,
with board members not choosing
the option that would allocate the
Seaforth Fire Department with the
least amount of area to cover.
Of the three options, the board
chose the option that would cover
the most ground, however, this did
not sit well with some councillors,
who felt that Huron East taxpayers
would be paying for Central Huron
fire coverage.
Huron East fire chief Marty
Bedard called the option that the
board voted to accept the “lesser of
two evils”.
Bill Siemon, however, felt that
taxpayer costs would be wasted in an
area that isn’t in Huron East.
“This shouldn’t put a strain on our
taxpayers because [Central Huron]
can’t get along with North Huron,”
he said.
The motion was passed to accept
the recommendation of the fire
board, however, after the motion was
passed, there was confusion as to
which motion councillors actually
voted on.
“This is the lesser of two evils for
Central Huron,” said deputy-mayor
Bernie MacLellan. “They shouldn’t
expect us to pay for this out of our
own pockets.”
Bedard said that the agreement
between the fire departments has
been that no money has changed
hands in the coverage exchange over
the last several years.
“We’re just paying for [Central
Huron’s] fire coverage instead of
them paying North Huron,” Siemon
said.
MacLellan and several other
councillors, including Les Falconer,
said they were under the impression
that Huron East would be
compensated for calls in the
“extended” coverage area that had
just been approved by council.
Bedard explained that while no
money changes hands, some of
Central Huron is covered by Huron
East while some of Huron East is
covered by Central Huron.
However, as Siemon asked, in
exchange for the extended coverage
Central Huron was asking for, no
more of Huron East was to be
covered by Central Huron fire
services.
MacLellan asked for the motion to
be rescinded and discussed further at
the next council meeting, which was
his only form of recourse against the
motion, which had already been
passed.
That vote was unanimous and the
issue will be discussed at the April
20 meeting.
Huron County stays out of fire coverage issue
Huron East council
confused over costs
North Huron councillors
concerned about safety
Insurance issue falls
on deaf ears: Elliott
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By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
Fire coverage conundrum
Fire Chiefs John Black (right) and Peter Steer from North
Huron and Lucknow fire departments, respectively, were on
hand for a Mid-March presentation about an issue Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh township council has been struggling
with in recent months; who will provide fire coverage for
which portions of their community? (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Lindsey Kuglin
Wingham Advance-Times