Kincardine capitulates, reinstates Paisley fire agreement

Prompted by a citizenry citing life-and-death statistics, and mired in a procedural nightmare, Kincardine council has capitulated on its decision to terminate the Paisley fire agreement, and accepted an offer sent by E-mail to the municipality from Arran-Elderslie Township, Monday, Jan. 23.

Councillor Randy Roppel started the ball rolling when he presented a notice of motion last Wednesday (Jan. 25), requesting reconsideration of council's decision in December to terminate the agreement with Arran-Elderslie which provides fire protection services in the northeast quadrant of Kincardine through the Paisley Fire Department. Roppel's request was based on the new offer made by the township.

Roppel's notice of motion, which had added acceptance of the new offer, was debated during the council meeting last night (Feb. 1).

What should have been an easy discussion, turned into a muddled debacle, given there were two delegations that were speaking to the agreement in committee-of-the-whole.

Council agreed to defer discussion until after the delegations which were given 10 minutes each to make their presentations.

In committee-of-the-whole, Paul Bennett, who lives on the 12th Concession, in the area affected by the agreement, presented a petition signed by 122 people, stating their concerns with the loss of this fire agreement, and urging council to reconsider the new offer which the petition states "will save the Municipality of Kincardine $23,000 to $25,000 per year, compared with what has been paid for the past two years."

Clerk Donna MacDougall told council that municipal policy dictates that all petitions must have a statement on them that ensures those signing them are aware that their personal information will be made public. This petition did not carry that statement, so it could be accepted only as correspondence and added to the consent agenda. Council agreed to add it to the consent agenda.

Both Bennett and Cynthia McGillivray, also of the 12th Concession, made similar presentations to what they spoke about at the public meeting Thursday afternoon (Jan. 26).

McGillivray reiterated the importance of saving lives, over the cost of the service, and she stressed that the new agreement from Arran-Elderslie is fair. She emphasized that the response times for Tiverton, Port Elgin and Chesley are longer than Paisley.

She also noted that there has been incorrect information communicated to council and the public regarding the wheat field fire July 28, 2016, at Lot 35, Concession 11. She said the Paisley Fire Department received the dispatch call and arrived at the scene within nine-and-a-half minutes, with five firefighters on hand and three trucks. An additional five firefighters from Paisley arrived on the scene within minutes, for a total of 10 firefighters responding to that call.

McGillivray pointed out that the average number of calls over the past 10 years, is 5.2; compared to an average of 2.8 for the past five years.

Bennett stated again that the affected fire coverage area in the northeast corner of Kincardine is 10.9 per cent of the municipality. Therefore, the cost to service an area that size in any other part of the municipality in 2016 was $126,752, as compared to the $51,400 per year in the recent offer from Arran-Elderslie.

"To quote (councillor) Mike Leggett back in August, 2016, $300 per property is 'a small price to pay to have peace of mind'," said Bennett. "Now, the offer is down to $252 per property. If you choose to accept the Arran-Elderslie offer, as is, the $26,000 per year reduction over the 2016 contract will save Kincardine $130,000 over five years."

Councillor Maureen Couture said council should deal with the reconsideration of the original decision to terminate the agreement before discussing the issue, or considering any new offer. Council agreed to bring the issue back to the table.

Roppel explained that he brought the notice of motion last week because of a recent meeting he attended at the home of Paul Bennett, with Bennett's wife, Lloyd McGillivray, and two representatives from Arran-Elderslie Township.

"After a two-and-a-half-hour discussion, I said to the Arran-Elderslie representatives, would you put another offer on the table, and they said, yes they would," said Roppel. "Kincardine would prefer a fee for service and no capital fee, just one cost which is what we would pay - as long as we get the service we're paying for. That's how we received the new offer."

Councillor Laura Haight said she would prefer negotiating this new offer with Arran-Elderslie, not with residents of the affected area of the municipality.

"Our problem (with the old agreement) was we were paying significantly more than Brockton but we had less coverage area," she said. "There was no fairness in that agreement. I'm eager to sit down with Arran-Elderslie and discuss this new offer. We need to have a proper discussion."

Couture applauded the efforts of the residents affected by this fire agreement, but said it's an agreement between two municipalities and should be negotiated between those two municipalities.

"A delay of four months getting back to us about this agreement is unacceptable," she said. "I don't want that to happen again. We need to get this sorted as soon as possible."

"I support taking this back to Arran-Elderslie," said councillor Andrew White, "but what happens in the interim?"

Mayor Anne Eadie said the municipality paid the 2016 bill under the old agreement, and can continue under that, month-by-month, until a new agreement is established.

"So, if we don't deal with this tonight, we're paying them more?" asked White.

"Yes," said Eadie.

Kincardine fire chief Kent Padfield noted that the 911 change-over has already begun, switching from Paisley to Kincardine for fire protection services. That process takes 90 days. "I need to know where we stand on this agreement, and whether I have to cancel that," he said.

Couture said if Kincardine is continuing month-by-month with Arran-Elderslie, then it's to the township's advantage to drag out the negotiation process. "We need to get this back on the table quickly."

Eadie agreed, saying the proper way to negotiate this new offer is council-to-council.

"So, are we or are we not accepting the new offer?" demanded Roppel.

"I have a problem with that," said deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert. "There's still wording and communication protocol that have to be attached, and we need more fleshing out of that offer."

"We haven't had a chance to negotiate with Arran-Elderslie," agreed Couture. "It's important for us to do that and it's important to our taxpayers."

"I agree," said Eadie. " This needs proper negotiations."

Faubert clarified that the new offer from Arran-Elderslie is $51,400 per year for five years, plus CPI (Consumer Price Index).

In a recorded vote in committee-of-the-whole, council agreed, 5-4, to accept the new offer. Those in favour were Roppel, Leggett, Faubert, and councillors Gordon Campbell and Linda McKee; those against, were Eadie, Haight, Couture and White.

That decision was endorsed by council with the same 5-4 vote: in favour, were Roppel, Leggett, Faubert, Campbell and McKee; and against, were Eadie, Haight, Couture and White.

The decision includes the suspension of the 911 change-over process.