Puslinch council seems to be in favour of the county hiring a fire training officer to help coordinate training in the seven lower tier municipalities in Wellington.
“You can never really have too much [training], and it is a good idea to coordinate it all,” councillor Jerry Schmidt said last week following a presentation by fire coordinator Brad Patton and Community Emergency Management Coordinator Linda Dickson.
Patton told council the role of the new officer, whose salary, vehicle, and expenses will be paid by the county, will be to sit down with the seven fire chiefs and assess the needs of each municipality.
“Their wants and desires will drive [the officer’s] workload,” Patton said, assuring councillors the new officer would be visible in each municipality.
Costs for the new position, expected to be about $150,000 this year, will be covered by the county, including salary, benefits, vehicle, and administration costs.
Councillor Wayne Stokley noted the Puslinch department already has a “great” training officer in John Uptegrove, and wondered what the hiring of a new county officer means for Uptegrove.
“The goal is to make John’s job easier … This position is to complement him,” Patton replied.
He explained training services would still be delivered locally, but the county officer would better coordinate delivery.
Puslinch Deputy Fire Chief Steve Goode said Uptegrove does a great job for the department, but he has a huge workload and could use some help – and that’s where the county training officer comes in.
“It’s going to assist us greatly,” Goode said. “There’s definitely a need.”
Mayor Dennis Lever agreed and said he would like to see the county “do more stuff like this.”
Dickson said county officials and the seven fire chiefs have been discussing the move for over 13 years and it’s likely just coming to fruition now because of a lack of expertise in the area.
Fire Chief Robert Gordon noted the Puslinch department already has a very high level of training, and he hopes the new county position will help bring other departments up to a similar level.
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On Monday night, Guelph-Eramosa councillors also expressed support for the hiring of a new fire training officer at the county, as did its fire chief John Osborne.
“We want to make sure we really have all our bases covered,” Osborne said following the presentation by Patton.
“It’s extremely important we get on board with this at the county … We strongly recommend this.’
