Residents say restoring Paisley fire agreement is a matter of life and death

For the 200 households in the northeast corner of the Municipality of Kincardine, restoring the Paisley fire agreement is a matter of life and death.

About 35 people gathered in the Underwood Community Centre, Thursday afternoon (Jan. 26), to hear how the municipality was planning to provide fire coverage to that area, given the termination of the agreement with Arran-Elderslie Township which provided fire services through the Paisley Fire Department.

Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie outlined the timeline that resulted in the decision back in August to end the agreement and forge ahead with the municipality providing fire protection.

In 2010, Kincardine entered into the automatic aid agreement with the Paisley Fire Department, after the municipality ended its participation in the Paisley and District Fire Board.

Nov. 13, 2015, a meeting was requested with Arran-Elderslie to begin discussions before the agreement was to expire at the end of the year. That meeting never happened.

March 4, 2016, a meeting was held at Arran-Elderslie to discuss the agreement. About two weeks later, a letter was sent to the township with a proposal for 2016 for consideration.

July 7, 2016, an invoice was received from Arran-Elderslie for the full 2016 fees. A month later, the Kincardine Fire Department made a report to council, and Aug. 10, council terminated its agreement, initiating the 180-day termination period.

Nov. 16, 2016, Kincardine received a counter-proposal from Arran-Elderslie, and Nov. 28, 2016, a letter went to Arran-Elderslie with Kincardine's proposal, requesting a reply by Dec. 9, 2016.

Dec. 14, 2016, a phone call came from Arran-Elderslie, reciting a new proposal, with details to follow in a letter. That same day, Kincardine council rejected that proposal.

Eadie explained that council's concern is the high cost charged to Kincardine, compared to the other two partners: Brockton and Saugeen Shores.

Over the past five years, Kincardine has been paying 40-per-cent more under the existing agreement, than Brockton; but has had 221-per-cent fewer response calls. This equates to an average cost per response call of $24,116 for Kincardine, compared to only $5,371 for Brockton.

Kincardine has 23 per cent fewer properties in the fire area, compared to Brockton. Kincardine's property assessment value in the fire area is seven-per-cent lower than Brockton. And in addition to the response fee, Kincardine paid $112,000 to Arran-Elderslie for capital.

Saugeen Shores currently pays a fixed annual fee, plus a cost for each response call, for the same service.

Kincardine's proposal, March 16, 2016, was for an annual service fee retainer, plus a fee per response: 204 properties, multiplied by $125 flat fee, for a total of $25,000 annual retainer; plus $1,350 per response.

Arran-Elderslie's counter-proposal Nov. 16, 2016, was for Kincardine to pay 18.23 per cent of Paisley Fire's operating expenses, based on the coverage area ($140,901 times 18.23 per cent, which equals $25,686), plus capital/reserve fund transfers of $25,686, plus $1,350 per response. For a total of $51,372 plus response calls.

Kincardine's counter-proposal Nov. 28, 2016, was a flat rate of $25,700, beginning in 2017, plus $1,350 per response, for a five-year agreement, with both rates to be adjusted annually based on CPI.

Eadie told Kincardine council Wednesday night that Monday (Jan. 23), yet another proposal had been received from Arran-Elderslie but the information was not discussed at that meeting.

The mayor then opened Thursday's meeting to questions. Several residents had concerns that their 911 calls are not being directed properly. Kincardine fire chief Kent Padfield asked them to give him the information after the meeting so he can follow up on procedures.



Affected resident Paul Bennett (left) makes a presentation at the public meeting, regarding fire services in the northeast corner of the Municipality of Kincardine, Thursday afternoon, at the Underwood Community Centre; listening to the presentation, are Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie, treasurer Roxana Baumann, deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert, fire chief Kent Padfield, and councillors Randy Roppel and Gordon Campbell

Paul Bennett, who lives in the middle of the affected area, said he represented more than 100 people who had signed a petition for council to reconsider the Paisley fire agreement for this part of the municipality. And not just the residents, he said, but all who travel through the area and could end up in a traffic accident requiring fire services.

He thanked councillor Randy Roppel for supporting the group and for being the go-between for the residents and council. He also thanked the mayor for allowing them to speak at this public meeting, before asking council to re-address the issue.

“We have no problem with the Tiverton, Kincardine or Paisley fire departments,” he said. “The problem is distance, the time it takes the Tiverton station to respond to properties in the northeast quadrant.”

He said the response time from Paisley is three minutes, three seconds, while the response time from Tiverton is 21 minutes, 30 seconds. “That's 18 minutes difference. When you consider three-and-a-half minutes to get together and on the truck, that's seven minutes from Paisley and 25 minutes from Tiverton – in ideal conditions.”

Bennett said the longer response time from Tiverton is not acceptable.

He said everyone in the room must understand that cost is of far less importance than the lives of the people affected. “I heard that Arran-Elderslie has issued a new proposal which is better than the other one.”

Using his calculations, he asked council to consider that the affected area is equal to 10.9 per cent of the total area in the Municipality of Kincardine. So when you calculate the Kincardine Fire Department's costs for one per cent of the total area, and then multiply that by 10.9 per cent, the figure is $125,305 – which is a lot less than the Paisley fire agreement.

He said the residents need the Paisley Fire Department's support, and it needs their support. “We have no other option but to use the Paisley fire services. We have to get council to reassess this agreement.”

Bennett began to outline that Kincardine has two fire stations, both built after amalgamation. However, Eadie stopped him, noting that the Kincardine station was built prior to amalgamation.

She added that Kincardine has an arrangement with Huron-Kinloss Township, with Kincardine providing fire services to the subdivision south of Saratoga Road, and the Ripley department covering an area of Kincardine Township to the east.

“We'd like to basically do the same thing with Paisley,” said Bennett. “I wouldn't want to be the person upside down in a vehicle, waiting 25 minutes for the fire truck to arrive. We hope you will reconsider the issue, since neither Kincardine nor Tiverton fire station is centrally-located. You would have to build a new fire hall or move the one in Tiverton.”

Deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert thanked the residents for attending the meeting, and for delaying discussion of information about the latest offer from Arran-Elderslie. “I don't even have that information yet,” she said.

Faubert said that several constituents have asked her why the municipality is subsidizing, and over-paying, a fire department in another municipality. “I hope you have put equal pressure on Arran-Elderslie and made your concerns known there as well.”

“Yes, we have,” said Bennett.

Cindy McGillivray, a resident of the 12^th of Bruce Township, said the residents' major concern is the response time if there's an accident, either on the road or on a property. “We would rather somebody was there in five minutes instead of 20 minutes – it's a matter of life and death, and you can't put a price on that.”

Lloyd McGillivray, also a resident of the 12^th of Bruce Township, asked what the cost would be to the Kincardine Fire Department to take over this section of coverage.

Padfield said just the cost of the firefighters' hours. He noted that for the two calls Paisley responded to in 2016, the increased cost would have been about $1,200.

Lloyd McGillivray argued that there were 14 calls in the affected area over the past four years – so three on average per year.

Padfield said that Tiverton responded with Paisley to two calls in the northeast corner because Paisley was lacking numbers on the first apparatus that responded.

“If Paisley responded to our area, and then two hours later, Tiverton responded, that doesn't make financial sense,” said Lloyd McGillivray.

Padfield said it's difficult for Paisley to have its firefighters out at a fire scene for an extended length of time.

Lloyd McGillivray said there are other fire departments in the area, including Port Elgin and Chesley, that could respond faster than Tiverton, to the northeast corner of Kincardine.

Eadie wrapped up the meeting by saying that Kincardine just wanted to be treated fairly, financially, in the Paisley fire agreement. “This is about drawing up a reasonable deal for services provided, and protecting the health and safety of our residents. Kincardine has remained open to a deal; we were ready to sit down with Arran-Elderslie to make it happen at any time.”

She said the recent proposal from Arran-Elderslie will be discussed at Wednesday's council meeting. “Thank you for your patience; this has been a long, drawn-out process.”