A motion asking for a report on Chatham-Kent Fire & Rescue staffing, deployment practices, volunteer utilization and service delivery models heated up council chambers Monday night.
Councillor Ryan Doyle, who is a volunteer firefighter, put forward a motion asking administration to review how the CK fire service uses career and volunteer firefighters.
“We know we can make improvements to our fire service with regards to response time and also with regards to the expense that it is,” said Doyle.
“I think that this information coming back to the next term of council will give them, especially if it comes back with the update on how we are doing with the Fire Master Plan, will give the next council all the information they need to make the best decision going forward.”
Councillor Brock McGregor asked for the motion to be referred to the next council term, saying he felt the vote would put incoming council members at a disadvantage.
“I think that it’s important to note that the CK Fire Master Plan was developed over a number of years, with a third-party consultant with stakeholder engagement,” said B. McGregor. “I think that we owe it to the next sitting council members to allow them the opportunity to learn about that plan to have those…closed sessions discussions too about some of those other components that may have some impact and that they determine what the best path forward is for accessing additional information to help with that implementation process.”
The motion to refer the matter to the next council term failed 6 to 10.
Legal staff also cautioned council against discussing labour relations issues during the open session.
Several councillors asked for the portion of the motion referring to Wallaceburg following the Fire Chief’s July 28 direction and continuing with the Fire Master Plan to be moved to a closed session on October 5.
“I feel a bit uncomfortable voting on that without being able to ask questions, and I want to respect the closed-session rules,” said Councillor Melissa Harrigan.
Council ultimately voted 12 to 5 in favour of Doyle’s motion, which will see an external consultant hired for up to $50,000, funded through the strategic reserve, to conduct a comprehensive review of CK Fire’s response times, community impacts, costs and staffing models.
“I don’t have any intention of asking a consultant to do work that has already been done by the people who did the Fire Master Plan,” said Chief Administrative Officer Michael Duben.
“But there are some other things in this motion that will require some extra work to be done.”
Expanding volunteer and paid-on-call participation in station coverage and emergency response, where operationally feasible, was voted on separately and passed 12 to 5.
Councillors Conor Allin, Marjorie Crew, Lauren Anderson, Brock McGregor and Mayor Darrin Canniff voted against the motion.