2019 fire services budget approved

The County of Barrhead will contribute more than $400,000 towards the operation and capital purchases of the Barrhead Regional Fire Services and Emergency Response Centre (ERC) in 2019.

County of Barrhead councillors passed several motions approving the 2019 operating and capital budgets for the Barrhead Regional Fire Services and ERC during their March 5 meeting.

County manager Debbie Oyarzun said the Barrhead Regional Fire Services Committee — which is comprised of two county councillors, two Town of Barrhead councillors and one representative from the public — met on Oct. 25, 2018 to review all four budgets, as well as the operating and capital plans.

Some changes were made, but the four budgets brought forward to the March 5 meeting were also presented at the joint council meeting in November.

First, councillors passed a motion approving the 2019 Fire Services operating budget, which totals $848,427 in revenue and expenses.

Oyarzun noted that the county and town will contribute $261,685 each towards the fire services’ operating budget. The remaining revenue comes from a variety of sources, but the biggest portions include $175,000 in firefighting fees from the county and $45,000 in firefighting fees from the town.

Why is there such a difference? First, Oyarzun noted that “if Barrhead Regional Fire Services attends a call — a fire, or an accident, or whatever the case may be — in the County of Barrhead, we are 100 per cent responsible for those expenses.”

However, emergency responses in the county generally entail travelling further distances. While medical calls are higher in the town, fire calls are generally more frequent in the county and they are generally more time-consuming.

It is worth noting that this year’s operating budget was slightly up from the 2018 actual budget, which came in at $845,434 in revenue and expenses.

Although there were variances in a number of areas, the biggest difference was a $14,000 drop in mileage expenses from the 2018 budget.

Meanwhile, the Fire Services’ 2019 capital budget includes expenses of $240,000, which will be split equally between the town and county. Oyarzun noted the county’s contribution will come out of reserves that they have set aside for this purpose.

This year, Barrhead Regional Fire Services will replace its 2010 GMC Command 2 truck at a cost of $90,000 and its 1999 one-ton Rabid Attack Response truck at a cost of $150,000.

It was noted that the wild land attack pump and tank on the 1999 vehicle are still in good condition and will be moved over, along with the emergency lights and radio.

ERC budgets

The ERC’s 2019 operating budget totals $49,324, which will be split equally between the town and county.

That means the county’s contribution towards the operation of the ERC will be $24,512. Virtually every expense in the 2019 budget is the same as in the 2018 actual budget.

The ERC’s 2019-2020 capital budget totals $50,000, which will include the replacement of an emergency generator motor ($10,000), new flooring in the centre ($12,000), new outside security cameras ($5,000) and upgrades to the centre’s on-site training facility ($15,000 initially).

Council briefly discussed the last item. It was noted that the Barrhead Fire Services is moving towards providing complete skills training for Level 1 and Level 2 firefighters.

To do this, however, the current training facility will need to be upgraded. This work will be conducted in two stages, with the first phase consisting of live fire facilities begin added on to a non-live fire facility, as well as the addition of a sloped and flat roof prop.

Oyarzun said they need non-live fire facilities in order to practice searching homes and dealing with different room structures.

The second stage will consist of adding exterior gas props to practice extinguishing liquid and gas fuel fires, such as when a propane tank leaks.

Although the budget equals $50,000, Oyarzun said the town and county will only contribute $12,500 each because some surplus equipment is being sold off.

“That’s why it’s not $25,000 each. It’s only $12,500 each, and they’re anticipating some revenue coming in,” she said.

On a final note, council passed a motion approving the three-year operating and 10-year capital plan for the Barrhead Regional Fire Services and ERC.

Oyarzun noted that council will see these documents every year as time passes and the plans are updated.