Strategy Corp was back before Erin council recently to present a fire department operational review, the next part of the town’s ongoing operational review.
In June 2015, the consulting company addressed council for an overarching operational review that led to seven recommendations for the town.
The most recent presentation, held at a special meeting on Feb. 26, gave council a list of nine recommendations for the fire department.
John Matheson and Michael Fenn of Strategy Corp told council their recommendations are more opportune in nature, due to their observation that the fire department is “typical for rural communities of its kind.”
“In our view, you have a good solid volunteer firefighter force, one that is staffed by people who have a huge amount of pride in what they do and one that plays nicely with the municipal administration by in large, and one that serves the people well by in large,” said Matheson.
He added the town “should be doing everything you can to preserve the volunteer model that you have as long as it continues to be appropriate.”
Fenn said he believes Erin has a good balance between cost savings and health and safety. The town’s fire service costs approximately $62 per capita and 8 per cent of town revenue is spent on fire service operating costs, explained the report.
It also explained Erin has the highest levels of station and volunteer coverage per square kilometre among similar municipalities.
“Among comparators, Erin provides the greatest coverage for a proportional expenditure in revenues,” states the report.
Mayor Allan Alls said, “We as a council are spending the money efficiently as we can for this area … that part helps me feel a lot better and hopefully it makes the fire department feel a little better because they’re doing an excellent job.”
Strategy Corp’s nine recommendations to the town are that:
– the fire service establish a benchmark set of response criteria and begin computer-based tracking practices;
– the town take all reasonable measures to ensure the volunteer fire service is supported in discharging its responsibilities, and to avoid migrating to a composite force with full-time firefighters;
– the town undertake measures to support the volunteer base and reduce the demand for a composite force to maintain the viability of the volunteer system;
– the town maintain the two fire stations, until the day comes when they must be replaced due to age;
– the fire chief, deputy chief and the volunteer companies undertake measures to increase the regularity of briefings among in the two stations on initiatives within the department and by council and management;
– a dedicated administrative position be added to the fire service;
– the town explore practical ways in which “tiered response” is used when it is needed;
– the town look into increasing the fire chief’s hours, eventually transitioning the position into full-time, as the population grows and the volume of calls increases; and
– the department institute regular inspections of major industrial, institutional and other structures.
Council received the report for information.
