City of Revelstoke won’t go to mediation on fire services agreement
Council has asked that the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) approve a bylaw to accept the provision of fire protection services within Area B.
In four motions, voted on concisely and without much comment from councillors, Revelstoke city council first voted to receive a letter from Charles Hamilton, chief administrative officer of the CSRD, dated Nov. 17.
In the letter, Hamilton lamented the discussion on the agreement.
“While we had hoped that a flexible and open communication style with an open mind towards compromise would allow us to move forward collaboratively, the response from the City to quickly advance another Agreement without discussion is a concern for the Board,” writes Hamilton. “The advancement of another Agreement by the City without discussion does not allow for any meaningful negotiations to take place.”
Hamilton requested that the City of Revelstoke agree to mediation and that they provide confirmation that fire protection services would not be cut on Dec. 31.
“The Board would have preferred that the City recognize the need for further discussion and compromise with the CSRD without simply presenting a draft agreement as was received,” Hamilton writes. “At this point, a mutually agreed upon third party dispute resolution process makes the most sense.”
Both the City and the CSRD must adopt an authorizing bylaw for the service before Dec. 31 if it is to continue into 2018, explained City of Revelstoke chief administrative officer Allan Chabot in a report to council.
The City’s bylaw passed Nov. 28 after reading a first, second and third time.
Council then passed a motion requesting the CSRD board to approve a motion consenting to the City providing the services in Bylaw 2212.
The agreement defines fire protection services as “fire protection and associated services, including fire suppression and highway and road rescue.”
The agreement does not allow fire fighters to enter any buildings or structures within Area B, as outlined in Section 2.1: “The City agrees to provide Fire Protection Services within the Service Area PROVIDED THAT the level of fire suppression service shall not include or require City firefighting or rescue personnel to enter any building or structure within the Service Area.”
It also says that if another emergency occurs that requires the firefighting personnel or equipment, it is up to the discretion of the City fire chief or officer or incident commander to stay at the incident or abandon it for the other call.
That is outlined in Section 4.3: “If the City Fire Department is attending a fire within the Service Area and another emergency arises which requires more urgent resources of the Fire Department, it will be at the sole discretion of the City Fire Chief or Officer or Incident Commander to remain at the fire or to abandon fighting the fire and attend the more urgent emergency. The City shall not be held liable in any manner whatsoever in the event that the City Fire Chief or Officer or Incident Commander decides to abandon fighting any fire within the Service Area to attend another emergency.”
Finally, council passed a motion to remit the Area B Rural Fire Services Agreement to the CSRD Board for its consideration.
Resort to town shuttle approved for three years
Every day that the Revelstoke Mountain Resort is open this season, a shuttle will be available from the Revelstoke townsite to the ski hill. Council approved that the mayor be authorized to sign the agreement, which will see Everything Revelstoke begin the service on Dec. 2.
The shuttle’s first stop will be in the Big Eddy with stops at Ramada, Stoke Hotel, Best Western, Starbucks, Esso, Le Marche, City Furniture, Taylor, Southside, Arrow, Beruschi and Hay.
This season, the shuttle is scheduled to begin at 6:15 a.m. in the Big Eddy and will arrive at the resort at 6:39 a.m.
The last shuttle from the resort into town is scheduled to leave at 5:52 p.m.
A second bus will be running on weekends and weekdays between Dec. 17 and March 20, 2017.
One-way tickets are $4. An adult season pass is $169 and an under-19 season pass is $89.
The agreement was approved until April 2020.
2018 council schedule approved
Council approved the schedule for regular council, standing and select committee and commission meetings for 2018.
The first regular council meeting of 2018 will be on Jan. 9 at 3 p.m. The full schedule is available online.
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marissa.tiel@revelstokereview.com
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